Something New
by Doopstory
Summary: <html><head></head>Post-show. Wolfrun deals with the fact that he is no longer a fairy tale antagonist or a Bad End General. So what exactly is he then?</html>
1. Prologue

Okay before I start this thing I should mention that this story has a few things changed from the show. So keep in mind:

The Bad End Generals are from another "Storyland" world, not Märchenland.

They do not have fairy forms.

Wolfrun is important and must be protected at all costs.

I. Prologue

Wolfrun had a pretty awful life. Being raised in the woods instead of a proper house, losing his parents to hunters, and considered a pariah to all the surrounding towns, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who had it as difficult as him. If you asked the residents of the towns, though, they'd tell you that he deserved it.

"Did you hear what he did to those poor pigs' houses?"

"He tried to abduct Red, he did!"

"He ambushes travelers in the woods! ...probably."

"Good thing the third brother built his house out of brick! I heard the monster burned himself trying to get in through the chimney!"

"He almost ate her grandmother too! Good thing that hunter came by when he did!"

"I tells ya, I woulda cut im open, filled im with rocks, an tossed 'is ass into the river! If he wasn't sucha slippery bastard, that is!"

Right about now is when you realized, right? Wolfrun is the Big Bad Wolf. The villain. The guy everybody hates, and with good reason! However, it is very simple for an event to be misconstrued by a biased mouth. If you were to ask Wolfrun himself about these events, he'd tell a different story.

"Ehhh? Is that what you heard?" Wolfrun was talking to Akaoni, a large red man that he had recently found himself partnered with, as well as a small witch, Majorina.

"Yeah! You blew those puny houses to smithereens! Those stupid little pigs thought they could build houses out of straw and twigs? BAHAHAHAHA!" Akaoni went into one of his laughing fits again. Wolfrun only knew him for about a week at this point, but he could already tell that this would become a recurring theme. How could those high pitched noises be coming from such a big guy?

Akaoni eventually recovered, sniffling and wiping a tear from his eye. He suddenly donned a serious expression. "If I were there I could have smashed that brick house, though." the giant stated. "I can't believe you actually tried to get in through the chimney." Of course he started snickering as he spoke that last sentence. "All for some pork to eat! GA HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Here we go again.

Wolfrun closed his eyes and growled, waiting for the thunderous outburst to finally end before speaking up. It didn't, but he managed to find a relatively quiet pause. "And I'm telling you, those damn pigs were trying to get me to attack them! They were looking for trouble! Building those ridiculous houses next to my woods. Acting friendly whenever they saw me. And then one of them invited me over for something to eat, but when I got to his house, he wouldn't let me in! Of course I was gonna blow that pathetic house of his down!" By now Akaoni's laughter attack had stopped, and Wolfrun continued. "And I blew down the next house, too! And the next one...I tried...and then...I was really hungry..." his speech grew soft toward the end.

"Aha, so they got what was coming to them, then? Even better!" Majorina finally spoke up. The tiny witch had been so quiet during the exchange that Wolfrun almost forgot she was even there. "And here I thought you would be a mindless monster! But you're more like me than I thought!"

"And me!" Akaoni chimed in.

That was the most odd and infuriating thing to Wolfrun. Here were these two people who he did not even know existed until recently, and they had already known who he was. Or rather, they knew who the Big Bad Wolf was. Was his reputation so bad that it spread outside of the towns near his woods? Just how many more people hated him? People that he hadn't even met!

At least Akaoni and Majorina didn't hate him. It didn't seem that they did, at least, and that was really all he could ask for at the moment.

"So what happened with that girl then?" Majorina seemed just as curious as Akaoni was before. "Did you really not try to eat her and her grandmother?"

Wolfrun covered his face with his hands briefly, removed them, and looked up at the ceiling. "No, I did not try to eat Red or her grandma!" he said, a little louder than was perhaps necessary. He snapped his view back down. "Where do people even come up with this crap, anyway? I don't eat humans! I've never eaten a human before! Why would I want to? They smell horrible!" His hands returned to his face. Why had he even agreed to talk to them about this in the first place?

There was a brief moment of silence, broken by Akaoni. "So what happened?"

After an exaggerated sigh, Wolfrun began. "Red got lost in my woods, alright? I found her slumped against a tree, crying. I showed her the way out and she was...grateful. She invited me into her house." He choked. Strange. He'd never told this story out loud before, but he certainly replayed it in his head. Hundreds of times. Thousands, maybe.

_She was the only one._

He shook his head as his audience stared at him in bewilderment. Clearing his throat, he continued. "A-anyway, one of the hunters that prowls the streets for some reason saw me go into her house, and he burst in and chased me out. He must have spread that asinine tale of me trying to eat the lady to bolster his own ego." Wolfrun crossed his legs and folded his arms. "Are we done?"

"Yeah, yeah." Akaoni mumbled as he got up from his seat and walked away. Majorina left without saying anything, leaving Wolfrun alone in the small room. He stared down at the triangular table and pondered his current situation. It hadn't been that long ago when a slim, masked man in jester's garb appeared in Wolfrun's forest. Of course Wolfrun tried to chase him out, but the man stood his ground. He introduced himself as "Joker", and offered a proposal.

"You're going to help my master, the great Lord Pierrot, give a Bad End to all worlds!" Joker licked his lips and smiled, showing his abnormally long canines.

"What are you talking about, clown?" Wolfrun had been relaxing by a stream and was understandably annoyed by the mildly terrifying interruption.

"Ohhhh hohoho! He has a bite! The Big Bad Wolf has a bite! I need that, sir! I need your bite!" The jester started to clap and then snap his jaw shut multiple times.

"Don't call me that you freak!" He did not know where that horrible nickname came from, but it stuck somehow. And now creeps he didn't even know were calling him that. Great. "Now answer my question. Why do you need my...'bite'?"

"Hmm he's got his teeth but he hasn't got his EARS! My dear friend, I've already told you: I need your aid in giving the universe the worst of conclusions! Full of darkness, despair, and suffering!" Joker did a pirouette, flinging his arms out dramatically as confetti burst forth out of thin air. "A BAD END!"

Wolfrun was getting pretty pissed off at this point. "And what the hell do you mean by a ba-"

Joker quickly lunged forward and put a hand around his muzzle, as someone might do to a dog to stop it from barking. For such a wiry person, he was strong. Joker moved his face uncomfortably close to Wolfrun's. The eyeholes in his mask were impossibly dark. "Paaaaatience mister Wolf. I will tell you what you need to know, but I must have absolute silence when doing so." He released his grip and patted him on the head, prompting a growl from Wolfrun. Joker waved a finger in a scolding motion and continued. "This world has never been kind to you, has it? You've been suffering for as long as you remember. Mister Wolf, I've been watching you for quite some time now, and I know what you feel. This world is not made for you! Its inhabitants reject you and demonize you! You try your hardest, but your hardest just ISN'T. GOOD. ENOUGH." Joker struck a ridiculous pose for each of those last words, holding the last one while slowly turning his head to face Wolfrun, a wide toothy grin forming on his face. "These people have stolen this world from you, and you are going to help the great Lord Pierrot steal it from _them_."

Of course this had intrigued Wolfrun, eventually causing him to go with Joker to the Bad End Kingdom, which wasn't so much a "kingdom" as it was a few buildings on top of a mountain surrounded by noxious water and dead forests. It was here where he was introduced to Akaoni and Majorina, two other people who were cast aside by the populace. Once together, Joker informed them of Pierrot's plan to attack Märchenland, a world not unlike their own that was inhabited by small creatures called fairies.

"Märchenland's queen is the only being capable of hindering Pierrot's power. That is why we are starting there first! To ensure that we are not stopped by anything!" Joker had explained to the three recently dubbed Bad End Generals. Understandably, they were anxious to give their own world a Bad End, but the situation was a little more complicated than Joker's initial pitch. He assured them that their world would get the end it deserved soon enough. To help them in their mission, Joker granted the three the ability to fly as well as the power to spawn creatures called Akanbe to help them fight.

The attack on Märchenland was carried out quite effectively. Not only that, but Wolfrun finally felt alive. For the first time in his life he was needed. He was important. He had allies that depended on him, and he relied on them in turn. Of course they tried to make it seem like they didn't require each others' help, but they couldn't have accomplished anything without a team. Joker may have freaked him out, but Wolfrun knew that without him he'd still be stuck in that forest. Or dead.

Unfortunately for the Bad End Kingdom, their assured victory was taken away when Pierrot ended up getting sealed away by the queen during the final battle. However, the queen herself was also sealed away, ending the conflict in a stalemate. With the last of her strength, the queen sent some of her power to another universe in the hopes that five chosen warriors, the Precure, would use it to unseal her so she could finish off Pierrot. She also sent a young fairy named Candy to find the potential heroes.

Joker's counter plan was sending Wolfrun to the recently opened universe to collect Bad Energy from the people there, which would ultimately revive Pierrot. Once he had arrived there, Wolfrun quickly ran into Candy as well as one of the inhabitants of the new world.

_Cure Happy..._

The young girl had not given off any Bad Energy. That was the first warning sign. Second, she had ended up protecting Candy and started blabbering about...how to achieve happiness? Trying hard and not giving up? He really didn't know where all of that was coming from. The only thing she had heard him say was how he was planning on giving the world a Bad End. Why was she talking about this crap? Right as he was about to grab Candy from her (and maybe mortally wound them in the process since he didn't really care about finesse at the time) the girl was struck with a pillar of pink light.

And that's how the first of the Precure appeared. Cure Happy. Who then proceeded to kick Wolfrun out of the new world. And to add insult to injury, it seemed that she knew all about his debacle with the pigs and made a reference to his inability to destroy bricks with his breath. He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but back at the Bad End Kingdom, it really started to eat away at him.

"Seriously, Joker! How the hell did she know about that? I thought we were going to a different world to collect the Bad Energy! How does she know about me?" He didn't want to show it, but he was scared by this. More so than the fact that he would have to start fighting legendary warriors. After all his time as a Bad End General and the damage he had wrought under that title, he still despised the false reputation of the Big Bad Wolf. He had left that behind. But now it was being unearthed again. Along with the pain.

Joker was sitting cross-legged on top of the table in the middle of the main meeting room playing cat's cradle with some yarn. Being around Joker as long as Wolfrun had certainly lowered his scare factor quite a bit, especially since he acted like a child most of the time. Wolfrun could tell he knew what he was doing though. The clown focused his attention on the string tangled in his hands while addressing Wolfrun's question. "This new world we have entered, it is called Earth! And Earth is the source of all other worlds. All the worlds we know of, at least! The stories written on Earth created the worlds that we know, mister Wolfrun! I'm sure that this Precure girl knows all about you. As well as the rest of the populace. In a way, they created you! And if we give Earth a Bad End, all the worlds we know will follow!" With that, Joker let out a giggle and disappeared into thin air.

_They...created me?_

He was going to end this world. That is what he was going to do. It would happen eventually. But learning about this had certainly piqued Wolfrun's interest. This was only exacerbated by the television that they kept in their headquarters, which started to pick up signals from Earth once Joker had made the initial connection. Wolfrun found himself drawn to it whenever he had any free time. The programs usually depicted people interacting with each other with smiles on their faces. Sometimes they would wrap their arms around each other, deriving some sort of pleasure from the act.

_Is that what people do when they gather?_

_Is this what they do in the towns?_

_...is this what I've been missing?_

_...I want to be a part of this._

Sure, Wolfrun spoke with Akaoni and Majorina, but it never felt the same as what he saw on the television. Conversations with the two of them were either work-related or had to do with something mundane. His interest in Earth grew with each passing day.

The months went by, and the four remaining Precure appeared: Sunny, Peace, March, and Beauty. Candy's brother Pop came from Märchenland to help them as well. Many battles were fought, but the Bad End Generals were able to gather enough Bad Energy to revive Lord Pierrot. Sort of. The Precure had stopped the process somewhat, requiring them to collect even more Bad Energy to resurrect him fully. After all that time, Wolfrun sometimes felt that Pierrot was a lost cause. Of course he did not tell anyone else that, but he found that his motivation to collect Bad Energy had started to fade, and he began to realize just how unpleasant the Bad End Kingdom really was. The atmosphere made him feel angry, trapped, and hopeless. Earth trips always seemed to clear his head, but he'd only be there for a short while to collect Bad Energy.

On one particularly hot day in the Bad End Kingdom, Wolfrun decided to visit Earth to cool off. No Bad End business. Just go there and relax. He felt it was long past due, and the Bad End Kingdom had started to drive him insane. He chose a shady creek in the mountains to cool off, and it was perfect. No responsibilities, no worries. People hated him, he didn't care.

Of course, Wolfrun's luck with such things was incredibly low. It wasn't long before he was accosted by strange creatures with beaks (Majorina later told him that they were called "Kappas"), causing him to fall in the water. As soon as he was able to orient himself, he darted out of the forest...and of course the Precure were right there, gathered outside of a small secluded house.

"Wolfrun?" Cure Happy was the first to speak up. All the other Cures were there, each one with a different expression on their face. An older woman was also seated near them.

Wolfrun turned to face them, surprised and really annoyed that they had showed up on the day he had chosen to relax. "You brats? What are you doing here?" He had intended to sound intimidating, but his voice came out a little too high pitched due to what had just happened.

"Could ask you the same, soggy!" Cure Sunny, who had formed a sort of rivalry with him, fired back.

"I was just cooling off when that-" Wolfrun cut himself off when he realized that each one of the Cures was holding a cob of corn. There was never any food in the Bad End Kingdom, besides the horrid concoctions that Majorina created (did she even consume that stuff?). Most of the food he ate he scavenged from Earth. He was usually in a constant state of hunger, and now was no exception. He swallowed hard and just stared, contemplating what to do next.

He really wanted some of that food.

"W-what's with you?" Sunny finally spoke up, albeit quite softly. The old woman behind them started to move.

"Oh my, I think he must be hungry. I'll go fetch you something to eat." She got up and started to walk into the house. "I'll just be a second."

Wolfrun's face grew hot."Hey, you, not so fast!" his voice, once again, faltered a bit as he got the words out. What was this woman doing? "Why on earth aren't you scared of me?" Something wasn't right. Even Red had been afraid of him initially.

She stopped, stepped back a bit, and turned around to face him. "Scared? But you're such a cute little fox!"

What the hell. "I'm not a fox, you dumb broad! I'm a wolf!" Wolfrun stomped his feet for emphasis.

She did not seem phased. "Well, you're still very adorable!" Sunny barely stifled a laugh, and the other Cures turned to him, smiling. This whole situation was surreal.

He was shaking now. He didn't know why, but he was, and his face was about to catch fire. He had given up hope of getting any food at this point. The Precure were here, and it was his job to fight them. "I'll show you just how scary a wolf can be!" he said while he put his boots on, sopping wet. He knew he couldn't get any Bad Energy from the Precure, but the old woman was sure to give off plenty, frail as she was. He began the ritual required to sap Bad Energy, relishing in the look on the lady's face as she fell into despair.

Except she didn't.

He tried again and again, but no Bad Energy emanated from her. She simply looked at him with a smile on her face. Eventually Wolfrun just stopped, staring with his mouth agape. Who exactly was she?

"She's not giving off any Bad Energy..." Cure March spoke up, voicing what Wolfrun had already figured out.

"Why not?" Happy inquired.

The little puffball Candy, who had also been there apparently, became excited. "Because she's not giving into despair!"

_Not giving into despair?_

Wolfrun snapped out of his trance. "But how? Why aren't you reduced to despair?" He didn't know what he was feeling at that point. Anger? Curiosity? Fear? His whole world seemed to have come crashing down on him and he needed to know why.

The old woman responded almost immediately. "What reason would I have to be?"

"Your future is going to blow absolute chunks!"

"Well, life will deal you bad hands sometimes."

"Dark clouds hang over you!" His voice was growing much louder now.

"As they have a habit of doing some days."

_What?_

"But the clouds will always part, and the sun will shine through. It's never dark for too long"

_What is she-_

"What's important is to live life with gusto and a smile. If you do, happiness will never be too far off."

Wolfrun continued to stand there saying nothing as Happy uttered a simple "Grandma..."

_That's Happy's grandmother? _

The other Cures spoke with admiration regarding Happy's grandma, but Wolfrun didn't hear what they were saying. Clenching his fists and staring at the ground, he let out a loud growl. How dare she speak that way to him! How did she know how he felt? She knew nothing. Nothing of suffering. Nothing of what he had to go through his entire life. She had no right! "Stuff your smiles crap! I'll bring you despair the old-fashioned way!" He finally looked up. "I can't wait to see you cry, you old bat!"

Sunny pointed to the empty spot near the house. "She just went to get your food."

"She's not even here?!" This day could not get any worse for him.

What proceeded was a typical battle between him and the Precure, although this time he had not collected any Bad Energy. His new goal was to burn down that old woman's house. He had even managed to incapacitate all of the Precure. As far as battles went, this one was going swimmingly. Except for not getting any Bad Energy out of it. That was still not a good thing. A large fireball shot straight towards the house with no Precure to stop it.

And once again, Wolfrun's luck ran out. A strong gust of wind from the mountains (Majorina later explained to him that it was from a "Tengu") extinguished the flame, sparing the house. With the combined efforts of the Cures, Wolfrun's almost assured victory became the worst loss of his Bad End General career. He knew he was gonna catch it from Joker when he returned.

The spindly jester paced in front of Wolfrun. His movement was stiff and precise. Joker was not easy to read by any means, but he usually did not walk like that. He had called Wolfrun over, but refrained from saying anything once the wolf arrived.

After an awkward silence, Wolfrun decided to start. "J-Joker I...it was Happy's grandmother! She didn't give off any Bad Energy! I couldn't...I didn't..." He was surprised by how affected he was by this still.

Joker stopped where he was and clicked his heels, turning his head slowly towards Wolfrun. "Mister Wolfrun why do you have SUCH bad luck when facing little girls and their grandmothers? It must be a CURSE!" He cackled at his little joke, infuriating Wolfrun even further. Joker noticed this."Now, now, mister Wolfrun! Don't make me get my muzzle! Please tell me what happened today with the Precure. Please, I am just DYING to know why you couldn't collect any Bad Energy for our Lord, the Great Pierrot." Joker lifted his legs into a criss-cross position while the rest of him remained suspended in the air. He rested his hands on his face, which brandished a wide grin. "Go ahead, pup."

Wolfrun really hated when Joker called him that. He ignored it this time and explained what had happened, leaving out the detail that he had not initially intended to collect Bad Energy in the first place.

"She wasn't afraid of me. She...was gonna get me some food. Nobody's ever-"

Joker let out an exaggerated stretch and yawn, loud enough to interrupt Wolfrun. "Mister Wolfrun PUH-LEEESE skip to the part where you failed your mission! I don't care if the old lady didn't think you were scary. I don't think you're scary! Are you going to talk about me too? Cut to the chase! CHOP CHOP CHOP CHOP!" he began to hit his hands together, and Wolfrun remembered another reason staying in the Bad End Kingdom was unbearable.

Wolfrun finished the recap, explaining how Happy's grandma would not emit any Bad Energy, and how strange forces on Earth led to his defeat. Joker's response was to make a pouty face, exclaim "Oh how poopy!" and walk away. Before he left, though, he put a hand on Wolfrun's shoulder.

"Don't think that you can actually fit in there, pup. They created your world, after all. Why would they be any different?" He left the room then, calling back "And I'm sure if that old hag got to know you, she'd hate your guts too!"

Wolfrun stood there for a few moments, listening to the ambient noise of the Bad End Kingdom. His face had erupted just like it had before. His breathing became more and more rapid. "Don't. Call. ME. PUP!" Wolfrun bellowed, kicking over the nearby table. He started moving around the room frantically, hands clutching erratically at his hair. The walls began to close in as the ceiling began to lower, and a sharp ringing filled the air. His breathing sped up rapidly, but he felt as if he were suffocating. He started to taste something metallic. Wolfrun raced out of the room into his designated quarters, where he promptly collapsed into the fetal position. He grabbed his tail and buried his face in the fur.

_What the hell is wrong with me? What the hell is wrong with me? _

_WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?_

Wolfrun did not know how long he had stayed there, but when he finally got up he was cold and sore from the hard ground. He felt as if his whole life had been shattered, and he couldn't explain why. What exactly happened today? He attempted to wrap his mind around it as he fell into his cot. Sleep engulfed him, and he dreamed of old ladies giving him food.

Wolfrun was angrier after that. The Bad End Kingdom seemed to seep into him, and he began to use it as fuel. More time passed, and Joker got less silly and more serious. Frightening, even. Everyone knew the final battle was coming soon, and that it would most likely end up with both the Bad End Generals and the Precure fighting with equal power. Everyone was on edge.

And of course, right before the last, fate-of-the-world deciding battle with the Precure, Joker told the Bad End Generals that the power he had been lending them them was, in turn, slowly killing them.

"Did you really think such strength would come without any form of risk?" Joker was smiling at them, but this was a different smile than the one they used to know. He was totally different now. He lowered his gaze, a shadow falling across his mask. "So know that if you lose this time, then yes...you'll pay with your lives."

The Generals were definitely shocked by this revelation. Sure, they had taken many beatings in the past year, but death? This clearly showed on their faces, and Joker donned a look of disappointment. "What's wrong? You had such fervor a moment ago! If you win, all will be well." He walked forward. "Just beat those measly Precure, and the world will have its Bad End!" He stopped a few paces in front of them. "Unless, of course, you'd prefer things went back to how they used to be..." Joker could be uncannily convincing sometimes.

Wolfrun was the first to speak up. "Fine, I'll do it!" Akaoni and Majorina soon joined. They had gathered around each other, feeling each others' camaraderie. Wolfrun cast his view grimly ahead. "Let's see what hell has in store for us."

"Hell? Sounds good for a demon like me." Akaoni added.

"There's no turning back now..." Majorina murmured.

Satisfied, Joker began once more. "Well then. I shall ask you to gather the last of the Bad Energy needed for Lord Pierrot's resurrection."

As it turned out, a large object was heading towards Earth at that moment. It was Pierrot's Egg, the gigantic, dormant stage of the shadowy monarch. All it needed was a bit more Bad Energy from the humans, and the Bad End Generals had arrived to collect. Naturally, the Precure were already there. Bad Energy slowly seeped into Pierrot's Egg as they transformed. However, Joker had given the Generals the power to transform for this battle as well. Using what would be the last of his energy they would ever receive, they morphed into hyper-charged versions of themselves.

The battle that followed was long and destructive. Wolfrun brawled with Happy, Akaoni took on Sunny and Peace, while Majorina dealt with March and Beauty. The Precure fought hard, but they were no match for the Generals' advanced forms. Ultimately, each one was knocked to the ground, and the Bad End Generals gathered near them.

Wolfrun glared at their fallen forms. "We're way too powerful for you twerps to handle!"

Cure Peace stirred and propped herself up with an arm. "They're so strong..."

"They ain't budgin' an inch..." Sunny followed.

"Where are they deriving that strength from?" Cure Beauty pondered, always one to use her brain.

Wolfrun simply let out a small laugh, and Akaoni stated "You could never understand what we've been through!"

Majorina followed up. "For our entire lives, we've endured suffering, loneliness, and pain!" She shouted the last words.

Silence from the Precure. Happy timidly spoke up. "Pain...?"

Majorina proceeded. "We were doomed to be the villains of our stories, loathed by all!"

Akaoni's previous bravado had quickly turned to sadness. "We were feared and hated..."

"Shunned by all around us." Wolfrun was deadpan. "But then Joker came to us..."

"So that's why..." Happy started to talk but Wolfrun cut her off.

"That's why we hate you! You humans, always laughing and having fun!" He paused for a quick breath. "And you lot! Always prattling on about your bright futures as if everything were just dandy!"

"We were hated and spurned! Nobody spared a thought for us!" Akaoni explained. His head lowered. "How could you ever begin to understand the frustration and loneliness we felt?" He finished by pointing an accusing finger at the Precure.

"That's why we're helping Lord Pierrot to obliterate this world! We'll destroy it so we never have to be reminded of it again!" Majorina's rage was barely contained now.

The Precure were silent, and one by one, they lowered their defensive stances. Looks ranging from shock to sorrow plastered their faces.

"What...?" Wolfrun was completely baffled. Weren't they gonna fight? Weren't they gonna try to stop the Bad End?

"Why aren't you trying to fight us?" Akaoni voiced what Wolfrun was thinking.

"Because I went through that myself at school..." Peace piped up.

"I know what we've been through ain't gonna hold a candle to you, but..." Sunny solemnly added.

Wolfrun couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you brats serious...?" he barely stuttered out, before shouting "Are you really gonna do this to us?!" He suddenly rushed forward, fist clenched and ready. "Then you can die! Alongside this stupid world of yours!" He honed in on Happy, and began hitting. She blocked each strike, but did not fight back. Akaoni and Majorina also started to attack, but the Precure refused to return the hits.

Despite blocking and dodging several brutal blows, Happy managed to look Wolfrun directly in the eyes. "I don't know if I can fight you, now that I know what you've been through..."

Was this really happening? "I don't want you looking down on me, you little twerp!" Wolfrun's assault did not relent.

Sunny had heard Wolfrun's remark while tangled with Akaoni. "That ain't what we're trying to do!" She was holding up Akaoni's club with the help of Peace.

"We just know what the pain of loneliness feels like..." Peace said in her usual quiet tone, despite almost being crushed by Akaoni, who let out a high-pitched, confused sound.

Cure Beauty, who was busy with Majorina, added on to what her companions had said. "It is true that we wish to secure a bright future for our world! But I do not believe that the only way to do that is by us fighting!" Majorina said nothing and continued with her volley of strikes.

"Why...?! Why did it have to come to this?!" Cure March lamented, also fighting off the witch.

All this talk was getting to Wolfrun. What were they talking about? They didn't want to fight? "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Wolfrun backed off and started darting his head back and forth like a cornered animal. "DAMN IT ALL!" He retreated back to where Akaoni and Majorina stood, and a burst of energy emanated from them. They were winning, but it sure as hell didn't feel like it anymore. "What would you brats know about anything?!" The energy waves continued to burst forward, kicking up all the dust on the ground.

"You spend every day living your happy little lives, free from any strife!" Akaoni thundered afterward.

"Never having to be hated by everyone around you like us!" venom dripped from Majorina's lips.

The waves of energy passed over the Precure, but they stood, resolute. Happy began to talk "Maybe so! But if we..." she stepped towards them, her hands clasped together "If we can do something to soothe the pain you've felt, then we want to help you!"

Wolfrun's eyes widened. "What?" The word barely passed from his lips. He looked upon all their faces. Looks of compassion. Looks he had never received before.

_They want to help._

_They...would have helped this entire time._

_Oh no._

"Damn it! Every time I look at you brats, my mind starts to go haywire!" an intense pain shot through Wolfrun's skull as he shouted this, recoiling from the shock.

Akaoni felt it too. "I stop feeling like myself anymore!"

Majorina as well. "That's why we have to destroy you...before we lose sight of ourselves!"

The energy radiating from the Bad End Generals finally culminated into it's true form. It was Bad Energy! Before the Precures' eyes, the Generals began to morph into hideous beasts of darkness, their eyes glowing red. They all let out a horrid bellow before rushing the Precure, who stood their ground.

Happy opened her arms, pleading "Don't let your anger control you!" The Generals did not stop though. They were gone. They grew closer and closer to Cure Happy. The beast shaped like Wolfrun landed the first strike, and...

A flash of golden light appeared from Happy.

_What...what happened._

_I...feel warm._

Wolfrun opened his eyes, only to be greeted by a vast, white expanse with no visible floor or ceiling. Out of his peripheral vision he could tell that Akaoni and Majorina flanked him. They were all back to their normal forms. They all peered upwards, eyes adjusting to the bright glow, and saw...

_Cure Happy?_

She was massive, occupying the entire space in front of them.

"What...? What's going on?" Wolfrun had found his words first. The giant Happy responded by scooping them all up with her massive hands and bringing them towards her. She began to speak.

"You know...I always loved you guys, in my fairytales." Her voice was quiet, yet echoed everywhere. The Bad End Generals gazed up at her in confusion, noises of disbelief rising from their throats.

"What are you saying?" Akaoni blubbered.

The voice once again pierced through them. "The Big Bad Wolf, the Cruel Demon, the Wicked Witch... the kindness you show us is incredible. These stories give us our hopes and dreams because of the roles you all play within them..." Her humongous face beamed. "So...thank you!"

The Generals continued to be flabbergasted. "You're thanking us...?" Wolfrun barely coughed up the question.

"Nobody's ever thanked me for anything before!" Akaoni this time.

"There are really people who think about us like that...?" Majorina's frail voice was heard.

Happy's soft smile persisted. "If you don't mind... would you like to be my friends?"

The Generals gawked in disbelief. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real.

_I'm dead. I've finally died._

Happy still spoke. "Then we can all play together! I know we'll have tons of fun!"

Wolfrun felt something wet in his eyes, spreading to the fur on his cheeks. Crying? He had seen other people do it and had wanted to do it himself for years. Why was it happening now? "You'd really do that for us...? Even after all we've done?" he asked weakly. The tears began flowing faster now. He could hear the sobs of his comrades next to him as well. Wolfrun closed his eyes.

All at once, the Bad Energy that had inhabited the Bad End Generals was exercised. A dark puff of purple smoke floated up into the sky and dispersed.

Wolfrun had felt the weight lift but felt another weight pressing onto him as well. He opened his eyes again and saw Happy, normal sized Happy, drawing him in close with a loving embrace, her face buried into his collar. Her arms were locked firmly behind his back as he sat on the hard ground while she leaned into him. He was back on Earth.

_I'm not dead. This is real. This is happening._

Wolfrun slowly lifted his arms up and tentatively placed them onto Happy's back. This is how he'd seen it done in the TV shows at least. He found himself instinctively pulling her near him while the tears began to overtake him once again.

His whimpering prompted Happy to run her hands through his hair. "You don't have to worry anymore, Wolfrun. It's over now." She pulled back despite his firm grip on her and looked him in the eyes. She was crying too. "We're friends now, and friends take care of each other."

_I...have a friend._

Wolfrun had never felt this way. His whole life had been full of suffering and pain. This was...the opposite, if that was even possible. "T-thank you. Thank you...s-so much." He pulled her in once more, mumbling "I'm so sorry" over and over again. Happy patted him on the back a few times and started rubbing it with her palm.

"I forgive you, Wolfrun!" Happy was bordering between laughing and crying. "I forgive you." The embrace lasted for a few more moments before Happy slowly withdrew herself and stood up, offering a hand to Wolfrun. "Can you get up?" She smiled wide at him.

_No more suffering._

Wolfrun wrapped his hand around hers. "Y-yeah" Even though she was much smaller than him, her Precure form granted her enough strength to pull him up. He stood up shakily. "I'm okay." his voice came out timid, the statement reassured himself more than Happy. He looked around and saw the other Precure standing there, as well as Akaoni and Majorina. They all looked at him with concern. "Uhm, how, uh, long was I on the ground for?"

Happy smiled at him, tears still in her eyes. "Not too long. Only a few minutes. You wouldn't stop crying, so I...I wanted to help."

"Oh..." Wolfrun looked back at his companions. They seemed really worried about him. He half walked, half stumbled over to them. Once he was in front of them he uttered "Y-you guys..." He collapsed into Akaoni, who half caught him, half fell. Wolfrun grabbed tightly onto him instead of getting up, and Akaoni clutched back. Majorina was able to reach her small arms up as well, pulling on Wolfrun's waist and Akaoni's leg. They all sat there enjoying each others' contact. Wolfrun realized that he had wanted this the entire time. He had wanted to feel close to his comrades, and either the Bad Energy or their own stubborn nature had prevented it. Not anymore, though.

_...I'm okay._

"Tch tch tch. Useless to the very end, I see!" Joker's voice boomed before he materialized in the air. "At the very least, you lot provided ample distraction, allowing Pierrot to absorb the very last of the Bad Energy needed for his revival!" His head drew back as he cackled maniacally. Wolfrun, Akaoni, and Majorina pulled away from each other quickly and assumed a protective stance. They should have seen this coming. "I won't be needing you anymore, I'm afraid." Joker mockingly pouted. In an instant, the Precure had surrounded the now ex Generals.

"We ain't gonna let you touch 'em!" Sunny shouted, fire bursting from her hands. The other Precure nodded in agreement.

Joker's laughter returned, albeit in a darker tone. He held up his hand as if he were about to snap. "But I don't need to touch them!" And then he snapped.

And Wolfrun's world went black. There was nothing. He couldn't even feel his body. He couldn't tell if Akaoni or Majorina were with him. He couldn't even tell if he was still alive. All he had were his thoughts. He had no idea that Joker had had this power over them. He probably had it the entire time.

_That bastard never cared about us._

Wolfrun didn't exist for what seemed like forever as well as for a few moments. Eventually his body returned and he sat up. Akaoni and Majorina were also with him, regaining consciousness. They laid in a grass field circled by trees. They heard something behind them.

"Guys! They're here, they came back!" March's voice, along with rapidly approaching footsteps. The three of them turned around to find the Precure, all in their normal forms now, running towards them, along with Candy and her brother Pop, who was carrying a thick, pink book. They stopped a few steps in front of them.

Peace gazed at them with wide eyes. "Are you alright? Where did you go?"

Majorina slowly balanced on her feet. "I don't know. Everything was dark. Might have been some magical dimension Joker created..."

Akaoni shot up. "What happened to Joker? And Lor- er Pierrot?"

Cure Beauty began talking as the other Cures moved forward to help Wolfrun and Akaoni up. "Joker seemed to have been absorbed into Pierrot before the battle started, and we were able to defeat Pierrot and return Earth back to normal." She put a hand on her chin and pondered. "As for you three, I agree with Majorina's theory. Joker must have placed you in a magical realm of his own creation, which dissipated after Pierrot was purged."

"Well thank goodness for that! I was really worried!" Happy exclaimed as she attempted to pull Wolfrun, Akaoni, and Majorina in for a hug. Akaoni's size made it difficult.

"You were worried about us?" they all asked in unison.

Happy seemed shocked. "Of course I was! Losing friends I just made would be terrible! I don't want anything bad to happen to you!" She frowned slowly, as if she had just realized something.

Beauty seemed to be on the same train of thought as well. "So where are you three going to go now? Where did you come from in the first place? Certainly not Märchenland."

"It was another world connected to Earth's stories. I'm not sure it had a name. But I'm certainly not going back there!" Majorina decided.

"Me either!" Akaoni squeaked.

Wolfrun put his head down. "I guess we don't have a home anymore."

_I've never had a home._

The Precure looked confusedly at him. "Can't you just go back to the Bad End Kingdom?" Sunny suggested.

"What? No! It's horrible there!" Akaoni recoiled from the thought.

"Wait, I wasn't the only one who hated it there?" Wolfrun had always kept his thoughts on that place to himself. Maybe he shouldn't have.

"Both of you never seemed to mind, so I never said anything." admitted Majorina. They all stood there in silence.

Beauty pondered once more. "Having them stay here would be quite troublesome. Except for Majorina of course. We would have to hide Akaoni and Wolfrun somewhere..."

"Wait a second. Didn't you guys use human disguises once?" March piped up. She was referring to the one time the Generals had used devices created by Majorina to appear as school students and run for class president. They weren't even trying to collect Bad Energy. They just thought being class president sounded nice.

"What? Oh, the 'become-a-human' devices stopped working after we got back to the Bad End Kingdom. I could work on the design to become more reliable but I don't have my brewing stuff with me. They're still in the Bad End Kingdom."

"Forget it! I smelled like human for a whole week after that! Never doing it again." Wolfrun turned his nose up.

"Yeah and I don't want to give up this powerful body." Akaoni flexed and Cure Peace giggled.

"You wouldn't be able to get to the Bad End Kingdom anyway." Pop finally spoke up and all eyes turned to his small form. "Candy used the last of her power as Queen of Märchenland to overcome Pierrot, and the connections between our worlds are fading. We can only take one more trip."

"Wait, that FAIRY is the queen?" Wolfrun gawked in disbelief and Candy jumped up.

"Candy is the new Queen of Märchenland!" she yelled delightedly.

Wolfrun scratched the back of his head. "Guess we missed out on a lot of stuff while we were in that weird dark place." he muttered.

"So where are we to go?" Akaoni returned everyone's focus to the issue.

"We can't stay here." Majorina concluded.

"And we sure as hell can't go to Märchenland..." sighed Wolfrun.

Candy let out a confused "Kuru?" and then asked "Why can't you guys come stay in Märchenland?", prompting a unanimous "What?" from all of the ex Generals as well as Pop.

"They caused the previous queen to get sealed away!" Pop exclaimed, exasperated.

"We destroyed so much of the land..." Akaoni reflected upon what they had done.

"The fairies there will be afraid of us!" Wolfrun was used to people being afraid of him, but he didn't want that anymore. Not in what would be his new life. A life where he was no longer the villain.

"Candy doesn't care about that! They're friends of the Precure now! That means they're Candy's friends too!" Candy's tone was serious. Or as serious as she could get. "Candy's first decree as Queen of Märchenland is to grant citizenship to three new friends." She assumed a stiff pose, her voice attempting to imitate royalty.

Pop seemed troubled. "C-Candy I'm not sure if that's such a good idea."

"It seems to be the only logical choice though." Beauty's words had a sense of finality to them.

Pop looked up at her, then down at the ground, and sighed. "You're right."

"So, you'll really let us stay?" Majorina still had trouble believing it.

"Of course!" Candy stood by her decision.

"T-thank you!" the ex Generals hastily thanked the new queen.

Suddenly, Candy and Pop began to glow with a golden light. "Candy?" Happy walked over to her and picked her up.

"It seems the time has come for us to part." Pop said sadly. He turned to the ex Generals and said "If you're going to come with us, you'll need to hold onto this book." He held up the book he had been carrying. They all nodded and grabbed onto it. They began to glow as well.

Candy seemed distressed. "A-already? Candy doesn't want to go yet! Candy wants to stay with her friends!" tears formed in her big sparkling eyes.

"Candy, we have to be mature about this." Pop choked out, tears welling in his eyes as well. Wolfrun felt something in the pit of his stomach.

Happy lifted Candy in front of her. "Candy...thank you, for everything." She drew her in for a hug, with the rest of the Precure joining in. The golden glow intensified as Candy, Pop, and the three ex Generals slowly were lifted into the sky.

Candy's crying grew louder. "Miyuki! Guys!" Wolfrun deduced that Miyuki must be the name of Cure Happy.

"Candy!" Miyuki and the other Precure below them shouted up. Miyuki continued speaking though. "Remember the promise we made, Candy? When you have to say bye-bye..." She drew her fingers to the corners of her mouth and pulled, creating a large grin.

Candy calmed down a bit in order to say "...do it with a smile!" She half-heartily mimicked Miyuki's gesture.

They all began yelling up at them again. "Goodbye Pop! Goodbye Wolfrun! Goodbye Majorina! Goodbye Akaoni!" Each one of the ex Generals teared up as their names were called.

"G-goodbye, Precure!" they responded.

"Don't get into any trouble, ya hear?" Sunny added.

"I'm sorry we couldn't spend more time together as friends, but I want you guys to know that I'm so glad to have met you! I'll never forget it!" Happy was almost on the verge of breaking down, but she kept smiling.

Wolfrun could feel himself starting to cry as well. "I'm also glad to have met you, Precure! Miyuki!" He was the only one to respond, because after he said that, the golden glow around them grew more intense as they were transported to Märchenland.

Earth was gone.


	2. Märchenland

II. Märchenland

Pop was not lying when he said going back to Märchenland would be a one way trip. Wolfrun tried teleporting back to Earth, but that ability was granted to the ex Generals by Joker, and with his defeat came the disappearance of that power. Same with flying. Wolfrun knew he was about to do a lot more walking.

Like Earth, access to the Bad End Kingdom was also barred, preventing Wolfrun from getting the few possessions to his name: the blanket his parents had given him (it barely held together, but Wolfrun had done his best to keep it mended all these years), bits of yarn that Joker would leave around, a couple coins (Earth money was his guess), a picture of a wolf he found on Earth that he thought looked like him (he had found it in a magazine and decided nobody would miss it if he ripped it out), his swimsuit and goggles (that he only got to use once), an extremely smooth rock (which he had found near the mountain stream before the Kappas ambushed him), his Robotter figurines (an Earth show that he had really grown to like), his extra pairs of boots (each one with different heel sizes), the scissors he used to trim his hair (if there was one thing he was proud of, it was his hair), and his hair ties (he liked to put his long hair into a ponytail before bed so it wouldn't get in his face while sleeping). At least he was better off than Majorina, who had almost an entire room full of wizarding objects and doodads she had invented. Still, arriving at a new home with nothing but the clothes on your back is not a comfortable situation to be in.

Märchenland had recovered quite a bit since the Bad End Kingdom's attack. Most of the buildings were repaired and roads repaved. Damage to the landscape itself was not so easily repaired, though, but the fairies had done their best to build structures around and over them. Wolfrun felt pangs of guilt, a sensation he had never experienced. And he knew it would likely keep happening now.

_This is my new life._

Naturally, when Candy and Pop appeared in Märchenland flanked by the three people who had caused it tremendous pain, the denizens panicked. It took a while for Candy to explain the situation to them, but slowly the fairies calmed down. Among the crowd, Wolfrun spotted the fairy version of himself. He had not even bothered looking at the fairies when he had come to attack it, but they were all part of the same stories. The tiny wolf-like fairy fearfully gazed back at him, and Wolfrun smiled meekly and made a small waving motion. It would take them a while to forget what the three of them had done.

Märchenland, being a land inhabited by tiny fairies, had equally tiny buildings. None of them were able to accommodate their size. Therefore, Queen Candy issued an "official queeny decree", asking everyone to work together to build a new home for the ex Generals. What the fairies lacked in size they made up with in numbers. With everyone's combined efforts, a comfortably sized house was built in about two weeks. The first place Wolfrun would ever call "home".

With the house built, the three of them had to find how they'd fit into Märchenland. Since they were outsiders, they had no stories to follow; their roles were already filled by the fairies there. Majorina immediately asked Candy if she could start a school of magic, which had been a dream of hers for as long as she could remember, and now she finally had a chance to make it a reality. Akaoni had decided to use his strength and stupendous size to start helping with the final repairs of the kingdom.

And Wolfrun didn't feel like doing anything. He was, for the first time in his life, happy. Happy to have a place to live. Happy that he had been given a second chance. Happy that he had friends like Akaoni and Majorina, and that nobody, for the most part, was afraid of him anymore. He was no longer the bad guy. He was just Wolfrun. The Wolfrun he could have been if his fate was not tied to a stupid story.

But was happiness supposed to also feel so empty? As the months passed by, Wolfrun felt that he was missing something inside him. The feeling of wanting to do nothing became the fear that he could not do anything. Majorina's magic school had become quite popular with the fairies and Akaoni continued to help build new structures once repairs were finished, leaving Wolfrun alone most of the time. He would spend days either in his room, or outside watching the fairies.

Wolfrun had started watching the fairies' interactions shortly after the house had been completed. He knew that Märchenland was akin to the world he had come from, but it was also different in many other ways. Instead of living the stories they were written in, the fairies of Märchenland would act out their story every day as if it were a game. After that, they would go about their day, reenacting their story again if they felt like it. There was no pain. No suffering. Nothing Wolfrun had endured.

In particular, he kept an eye on the fairy form of himself. The small wolf-like creature always seemed to notice that Wolfrun was nearby, but at that point had realized that he meant no harm. The fairy would meet up with the three pig fairies, who proceeded to build small dwellings out of the necessary materials. After the whole ordeal was over, they all would roll around on the grass laughing.

One day, about a month after his arrival in Märchenland, Wolfrun spotted his fairy doppelganger alongside a fairy wearing a red hood. He perked up. This was the first time he had seen Little Red Riding Hood here. They were walking arm in arm. He wasn't sure if they were in the middle of their story or not, but he didn't really care. He decided that he was finally going to talk to some of the residents of his new home. Why not start with Red and...himself?

"Yo!" he sauntered over to the pair and waved a hand nonchalantly, prompting Red to hide behind the fairy wolf, who stood resolute. He was used to Wolfrun's presence at this point.

"Hello, sir." he spoke in a deeper voice than one might imagine. Wolfrun saw that Red still seemed to be frightened, so he lowered himself to the ground and sat cross-legged in front of them.

"Are you two in the middle of your story?" Wolfrun had spotted the basket of food in Red's free hand. It was still unsettling to him that his life was being played out by these little puffballs, but he managed to keep a level head. "On your way to grandma's house, eh?" he added after receiving no response.

Red finally piped up. "No, the hunter just chased him out. I decided to go with him today. We're gonna have a picnic."

The wolf fairy turned to Wolfrun excitedly. "Would you like to join us, sir? Red always packs a lotta food!" His eyes glowed in anticipation while Red grew, well, red.

Wolfrun chuckled. "Sure thing! I'm always ready for a good meal." He patted his stomach. "Where are we gonna eat then?"

"Right here is fine." Red pulled the cloth from the basket and set it on the ground, revealing some bread, cookies, jam, peanuts, and some small containers of milk. Wolfrun salivated. He was much better fed now, but he still had quite the appetite. He began by spreading some of the jam on a few slices of bread and grabbing some milk. His fairy double and Red followed suit.

"So do you have a name then?" Wolfrun addressed the small wolf fairy.

"Well, I'm the Big Bad Wolf of course!" He puffed out his tiny chest. Red giggled and gave him a small shove.

A chill ran through Wolfrun. He could never hear those words without feeling that. He shrugged off the sensation. "No no no. That's what I was called back in my world, but I have a real name too! You must have a name besides that." He took a bite out of his jam sandwich.

The fairy shifted a bit. "Heh, well nobody usually calls me by it, but my real name is Wolfun."

"That's a nice name. My name is Wolfrun, so I would know." Red laughed again. She seemed to be less scared now. Wolfrun had his conversation skills to thank for that. Despite being an outcast most of his life, he was surprisingly charismatic.

_Must be because I was written that way._

About an hour passed, and all the food in Red's basket had been eaten, thanks mostly to Wolfrun who leaned back and let out a long, satisfied sigh. Red gathered up the blanket and stuffed it in the basket while Wolfun stood up and brushed the grass from his fur. He looked at the larger wolf with a more relaxed expression now. "Well, see you later mister Wolfrun!" He took Red's hand and started to walk away. Wolfrun sat up.

"Wait a second!" he blurted out a bit too loudly. They turned around and Wolfrun recalled the words that Cure Happy...no, Miyuki, had said to him. "If you don't mind, would you like to be my friends?" Those words had stuck with him ever since she spoke them. He could finally use them himself.

_She would be so proud of me. I'm getting a hang of this sort of thing!_

The fairies beamed at him. "Of course!" they said in unison. "You can help pick out what I put in my basket tomorrow!" Red exclaimed. After that they rushed off. "See you soon, Wolfrun!"

"Same to you two!" Wolfrun yelled back. He began to realize what the Precure had meant when they talked highly of friendship now.

_...the Precure._

Wolfrun spent more time with Wolfun and Red, but this did not satiate the strange void within him. His thoughts constantly drifted to Earth. After over a year of being exposed to it, it had left an impact on him. The Precure befriending him before leaving was just icing on the cake.

_I wonder what they were like._

Wolfrun had met with Candy a few times to discuss the Precure, but each time he tried, she would burst into tears, prompting Pop to ask him to leave. That was until Candy herself showed up at Wolfrun's door a few months after their departure from Earth.

"Ehhhh? What're you doing here, Candy?" Despite technically being his queen, he could never bring himself to address her by that title. She didn't seem to mind anyway. Her face was more serious than usual, and she exhaled softly before gesturing for Wolfrun to crouch down to her level. He complied.

"Candy is ready to talk about the Precure." she said flatly. She hopped in and jumped up onto the table in the kitchen area. She took in her surroundings, as this was her first time inside of the house since it was furnished. She noticed a tea kettle on the stove. "Candy will talk about the Precure if we can also have a tea party!" her trademark smile returned. Wolfrun rolled his eyes.

Once the tea was all set Wolfrun took a seat in front of Candy, who was still sitting on the table. She sipped her tea and was probably trying to look sophisticated. Then she spoke.

"Candy isn't crying anymore when she thinks about the Precure." Her smile was growing weaker, yet it persisted. "You want to know about them, right?" Her yellow ears wobbled back and forth. She truly seemed interested in talking now, and Wolfrun was definitely interested in hearing. Candy told him all about her time on Earth with them, and what they were like.

Cure Beauty. Her name was Reika. Always kind and gentle to others. She was very intelligent, but sometimes became confused when confronted with certain social cues. Wolfrun remembered playing with her when they were all transformed into children by one of Majorina's inventions. She was very nice to him after her initial fear wore off.

Cure March. Her name was Nao. She was strong, determined, and extremely devoted to her family. Very no nonsense. Despite her tough exterior, she was afraid of a lot of things (like bugs). Wolfrun knew the least about her, it seemed.

Cure Peace. Her name was Yayoi. Quiet and shy at first, but very enthusiastic and kind of loud once you got to know her. She loved art and had grand artistic aspirations. Quite the dreamer. Cried easily. She also really liked the Earth show "Iron Warrior Robotter DX", which Wolfrun had also become a fan of.

Cure Sunny. Her name was Akane. Fiery and passionate, she would do anything to protect her friends. Wolfrun had gathered that much through his rivalry with her, though. She also loved to cook, and made really delicious okonomiyaki (which Wolfrun could vouch for personally, since he had eaten an exorbinant amount of it during one of their battles).

And of course Cure Happy, whom Wolfrun already knew was called Miyuki. Everything Candy revealed about her seemed to fit Wolfrun's preconceived notions he had when he was still a Bad End General. Of course, what had caused anger and confusion before now evoked more positive feelings. Miyuki always had a smile on her face, no matter what. She messed up a lot, but she wouldn't get hung up about it. She would try to be friends with everyone.

_Even me._

Knowing all of this, Wolfrun began to miss Earth even moreso. He started to think about what he would do if he could meet the five of them again. He would run scenarios through his head. Think about what to say. How would they respond? What would they all do together? He would lie in his room and think for days on end.

_I had given up on the world. I hated it. I hated them too. I made sure they knew I hated them._

_But they had not given up on me. They had wanted to help me all along. They would always try to talk to me while fighting. Try to get me to see the world as they saw it. But I ignored them. _

_Dammit! Why was I taken away from them as soon as I began to see without all that Dark Energy crap? It's not fair! It's not fair..._

_..._

_I wonder if they think about me..._

_...because I sure as hell think about them._

More time passed, and Wolfrun found it harder and harder to leave the house. Majorina would leave to teach at her School of Magic (she was never the best at naming things), and Akaoni had made friends with many of the fairies while he was helping them build and repair. Wolfrun couldn't seem to befriend any other fairies besides Wolfun and Red. He had no role to fill in Märchenland. He still felt like an outcast.

It was almost a year since he had left Earth, and Pegasus day was approaching. It was a Märchenland holiday, apparently. Shooting stars filled the night sky and the residents would make wishes. Wolfrun thought the whole thing was asinine, despite Candy, Wolfun, and Red telling him otherwise. A little flying speck in the sky couldn't do such a thing. If it could, why were there so many problems in the world? It didn't make sense.

He had gone with Majorina and Akaoni to attend the festivities anyhow. He'd take any time he could spend with them when they weren't busy. Majorina had decided to make a wish for the sake of her research, and Akaoni thought making a wish sounded fun, even if it might not work. Wolfrun still thought the whole thing was pointless, but when he saw the first trail of light streak across the night sky, he couldn't help but think.

_I wish I was happy._

Once they all got home, Wolfrun plopped into his hammock (he had always preferred hammocks) and let his thoughts run rampant, as they usually did at night. Sleep came slowly.

...

"Wolfrun?"

He had awoken to the sound of a soft yet loud voice. Definitely not Majorina or Akaoni. Perhaps one of the fairies? He looked at the clock. It was later than he thought it was.

Wolfrun sat up a bit and rubbed the sleep grit out of his eyes. "Yeah? Who's there?" he half mumbled. He heard footsteps. More than one person. Bigger than a fairy. A familiar scent...

"Wolfrun!"

He removed his hands from his eyes, turned to face the doorway, and released a loud noise from the back of his throat.

It was the Precure.


	3. The Precure

III. The Precure

The five girls stood in the doorway to Wolfrun's room. They had changed in appearance somewhat in the past year, but Wolfrun still knew it was them.

_Miyuki, Akane, Yayoi, Nao, Reika._

"H-h-how..."

Before Wolfrun could utter anything coherent, Miyuki shot across the room and threw herself onto him, knocking the air out of his lungs. Also, her sheer momentum caused the supports of the hammock to break, and the both of them crashed to the ground. Wolfrun took most of the impact, naturally, but he was in too much shock to notice. He just laid on his side, his tail thumping rapidly against the ground as Miyuki recovered from the fall. She made a strange "apupupu" sound as she did.

The other girls were soon by their side. Yayoi's eyes were wide with concern. "Are you guys alright?" Her hands were balled up in front of her mouth.

Miyuki rubbed her head and laughed softly. "Yeah I think so." She glanced over at Wolfrun, who was somewhat tangled in the mess that had been his hammock. "Oh my goodness! I'm sorry about your hammock! Are you okay?" She placed a hand on his leg, but he didn't respond. He simply laid there with his hands over his face, but they could not hide the wide grin that was forming down his snout. His tail continued to wag, kicking up some of the fabric of the hammock. The other girls giggled but Miyuki remained adamant in getting his attention.

"Wolfrun! Please! Are you okay? Please say something!" she began to shake him a bit. Wolfrun recovered from his temporary paralysis and sat up slowly, trying to retain a straight face, but his tail still swayed lazily behind him.

"H-hey. I'm okay. That hammock needed to get fixed anyway." He couldn't seem to raise his voice above that of a mouse's squeak. "Why are you here? I-I mean how..." he wiped his eyes. He was still half asleep for the most part. His arm plopped down onto his lap as he realized the situation. "This is a dream isn't it?"

"Wolfrun is not dreaming!" Candy shrieked, flying up in the air. Appearing from nowhere seemed to be her forte. She landed softly in front of him and started waving her tiny arms. "Candy wished upon Pegasus's star! She wished to see her friends again, and when she woke up she saw that her bookshelf was glowing!" Candy was referring to the way in which Märchenland and Earth had been connected over a year ago. Portals within bookshelves that required the books to be moved in a certain way to open them, allowing the traveler to be transported to the place they were thinking about. Candy had used this to return to Earth and reunite with the Precure.

"Candy brought them all to Märchenland to say hello! We can all be friends again! We can play all we want now!" Candy soon began to run around the room, the five girls watching in amusement. Wolfrun was still soaking in all the information.

Akane turned her attention back to the wolf. "Well you're looking good, fuzzball! Still haven't chopped off all that hair I see, but at least you're tying it up so it doesn't attack anyone!" The four other girls started to laugh and Miyuki shoved Akane, mumbling something about being nicer, despite laughing herself.

Wolfrun grew hot and took off the hairband Red had given him, letting his long white hair drop down to his shoulders. "I only tie it up when I sleep! And there's nothing wrong with my hair!" He crossed his arms and tried to look angry, but he still could barely contain his giddiness. This is what he had been thinking about for nearly a year, and now it was happening. He slowly rose to his feet, his knees cracking. He stretched his arms towards the ceiling, fingers laced. After that whole ordeal was over, he noticed that the Precure were simply watching him. "Why are you lookin at me like that?" Once again, Wolfrun tried to sound annoyed but he broke out into a sort of half laugh at the end.

"Well, we thought we'd never see you again." Miyuki answered for the group. The other four nodded in agreement.

"Ehh? Did you stare at Akaoni and Majorina like that too? Have you even seen them yet?" Wolfrun began to pick at his ear with his pinky.

"Yes. We saw all the repairs Akaoni had done to Märchenland as well as the school Majorina is running." Reika's calm voice broke through the lively atmosphere. "We talked to them for a while as well." She made a sort of scowl after saying this. "They said that they were worried about you, and that we should go and see you right away."

The smiles on their faces morphed into looks of concern. Wolfrun scratched the back of his head and looked down. He coughed.

"Is everything okay, Wolfrun?" Yayoi prodded.

Wolfrun sighed. "This past year has been...rough. And I...I haven't been..." He trailed off and looked back up. "...I'm glad you guys are here and..." He fiddled with his hands and looked around. "Oh what the hell." With one quick movement he had wrapped the five of them up with his large arms in a sloppy group hug. They squeaked in surprise, but hugged back the best they could. "Can we all just...go somewhere? I'm sick of staying in this house." He withdrew from the girls. "I'm sick of being alone." he added quietly.

"Majorina actually told us to take you somewhere." Nao remembered.

"Correct, and we already have something planned." Reika added with a warm smile.

"Oh?" Wolfrun hadn't expected this.

Miyuki shot up. "That's right! We're gonna take you to my grandma's!"

"WHAT!?"

"She's been asking about you ever since she saw you that one time! 'Where is that wolf friend of yours? When is that cute wolf boy coming back? How do you know that wolf of yours?'" Miyuki did her best impression of an old woman.

"But I tried to burn her house down." Wolfrun felt an almost physical pain recalling the memory. He had come a long way, that's for sure. "Why would she want to see me again?"

"Well, she didn't really know you tried to do that. And I didn't tell her. As far as she knows you just left when she went in to get your food." Miyuki grinned sheepishly. "She really wants to meet you, Wolfrun. Well, properly, anyway. And I didn't have the heart to tell her that you wouldn't be coming back. So..."

"She really wants to see me again?" The girls nodded in response. He smiled, prompting his tail to wiggle a bit once more. "Heh. As long as she still wants to give me food, I'm good to go!" Wolfrun took a couple long strides towards the doorway, but stopped when he noticed that nobody was following him. "Aren't we gonna go?"

"Well, we're gonna be staying there a few nights. You're probably gonna need to pack some stuff." Miyuki shrugged slightly. "We'll help if you want."

"Yeah, you're not gonna wear that weird biker getup the whole time, are you?" Akane was back at poking fun again, but he felt okay with it, strangely. It put him at ease. He wasn't going to let her get away with it, of course.

"Hey, leather is always in style! It may be the only piece of clothing I own, but I rock it!"

The girls grew quiet. Nao eventually interrupted the silence. "Is that really the only thing you have to wear?"

Candy finally spoke up. Where had she gone anyway? "What about the clothing Candy had the fairies make you?" She jumped up multiple times to try to get to Wolfrun's eye level until Yayoi picked her up.

"Pff. They got the size all wrong. Not that I'd wear that stuff anyway. I've been using them as rags though." He nonchalantly gestured toward a multicolored pile of cloth in the corner of the room. Candy started to produce a low-pitched growl. As low-pitched as she could manage anyway. Her imminent outburst was prevented by an excited Yayoi.

"We can buy you clothes!" she nearly screamed, squeezing Candy tightly. "There's a thrift shop nearby with all sorts of old clothes we could buy!"

"W-what? Really?" Wolfrun wasn't sure what to make of this.

"Yeah! It's pretty cheap, and if we all pitch in we can get you all the essentials!" she turned to her friends. "What do you guys think?"

"I'm not spending my money on him." Nao muttered, then turned to Wolfrun. "Uh, no offense, but my parents don't pay me anything for babysitting, so any money I get is going to be saved."

"Is there even gonna be stuff that fits him? He's humongous!" Akane took a few short steps up to Wolfrun and looked up at him. She just barely came up to his pectoral muscles. "Even after that year away you still look as tall as you used to. Guess I stopped growin' then." She shrugged. "But anyway, not many people in town are as tall as him. Do you really think a thrift store would carry his size?"

"My size?"

"The size of one's clothing indicates how large it is, making it much easier for that person to purchase clothing that fits to their liking." Of course Reika went ahead and explained it.

"I know what it means, I'm just not sure what my size is." Wolfrun started to feel a bit silly. This discussion of clothing was becoming unnecessarily long.

"We can measure you! My mom has all the measuring tape and stuff! C'mon let's go!" Yayoi was growing very enthusiastic now. And slightly impatient.

"Hey, we can't just bring him to Earth without a plan!" Nao piped up.

Yayoi let out a playful scoff. Was she usually this outgoing? This was the most Wolfrun had ever heard her speak. "My mom is at work for most of the day. My house is empty. We can take the portal to the bookshelf in my room. No problem!" She winked and pointed a finger at nothing in particular. She was really putting on a show.

"That seems like the best course of action." It appeared that all decisions eventually fell upon Reika's approval. "Are you okay with this, Wolfrun?"

"Yeah, I'm good to go! I just wanna get out of here." After all this time, he was going to see Earth again. He had not been this excited since, well, he couldn't remember.

"It's settled now! Show us to your nearest bookshelf!" Yayoi was acting just plain silly now, but Wolfrun couldn't help but be amused.

"There's one in Majorina's room. I'm not really allowed in there, but I'm sure she'd make an exception this time." He sauntered out of his room with the five girls and one fairy in tow. He turned down the hallway and stopped. The door before them had two crude drawings taped to it, one of Wolfrun's face and the other of Akaoni's. Both of them were crossed out. These warnings seemed to be the only hindrance though, as Wolfrun opened the door with ease, revealing a modest sized room cluttered with seemingly random objects. They most likely held some significance in...witching, but Wolfrun never could make sense of it. Not that it mattered. What they were looking for was located up against the wall to their right. Wolfrun walked up to the bookshelf, about to perform the combination to open the portal, but then stopped. "Uh, it's probably best if Yayoi does it. I'm not sure exactly what to think of to get to her house." He stepped aside and let the small blond get through.

Right. Left. Apart. Wolfrun knew the motions very well, as he had tried it in vain many times in the past year after Candy had shown him how. Of course, this time it worked, and the bookshelf began to glow with an intense pinkish light. He had never actually used this method of transport, since Joker had granted him and his two comrades the power to teleport instantly between the two worlds. This method seemed a bit inconvenient comparatively, but he knew he shouldn't be picky.

Yayoi vanished into the light with Candy in her grasp, followed closely by Nao, Reika, and Akane. Miyuki was about to enter too, but stopped once she noticed Wolfrun's hesitation. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He wasn't exactly sure why he had stopped. Perhaps it was just the strangeness of the situation. It was a bit overwhelming. In a good way though.

Miyuki responded by holding out a hand to him, which he gently grabbed. They both entered the portal together.

Passing through it felt just like walking through a normal passage. Except for the blinding light, which stuck in Wolfrun's vision for a few seconds after he, presumably, arrived at his destination. The floor under his boots felt a bit more cushy, and he caught a whiff of something he had not smelled in quite a while.

_Earth_

He used his free hand to attempt to rub the black orb from his vision, and he slowly started to make out the shapes of the other Precure, minus Yayoi. The room they were in steadily drifted into view as well. It was small yet messy, much like the room they had just left in order to get here. Instead of magical items, though, there were assorted sketchpads, pencils, brushes, and other art stuff. Wolfrun also caught sight of a small television.

_I'll have to see if I can take one back with me..._

Akane was the first to take notice of their presence. She snickered. "Whaddaya got there, Miyuki?"

Miyuki looked down at her hand, which was still wrapped around Wolfrun's. She hastily withdrew it and quickly walked over to the other girls. Wolfrun stared at his hand, wondering what had just happened.

"So where did Yayoi go?" Miyuki pondered.

On cue, Yayoi appeared in the doorway, hands on her hips, a smiling Candy on her head. She held a roll of measuring tape in her left hand, promptly using the right to point at the large wolf in her room. "It is time!" she stated loudly. She then strode over to Wolfrun, pulling taut a length of the tape. She looked up at him, then down at the tape, back up to him, and back to the tape. Her face turned red.

"Yayoi, do you know how to take these measurements?" Reika asked softly.

Yayoi hung her head solemnly. "N-no not really. I just got too excited."

Miyuki quickly moved over to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Pshh, there's no such thing as being too excited! This is an exciting time, after all!"

Yayoi looked up once more and smiled, and then looked at the tape in her hands. "Does anyone know how to do this then?"

Nao appeared in front of her and took the tape from her hands. "I've done this plenty of times with my siblings." She turned around to gaze upon her new target. "He's a lot bigger than they are, sure, but the same rules should still apply. Yayoi, grab a pencil and some paper and write down the numbers I give you." Yayoi nodded enthusiastically and went to fetch those items. Meanwhile, Nao grabbed Wolfrun's arm. "Here, stand next to the bed. Yeah like that." She then climbed up on the bed and stood, her head now reaching above Wolfrun's height. She unraveled the measuring tape. "Someone grab the bottom of this. I'm gonna see how tall he is first."

Miyuki dropped to the ground to grab the end of the tape, noticing Wolfrun's boots in the process, and then gazed over to where the other girls had put their shoes. "Oh, whoops!" She quickly pulled hers off and added them to the collection. "Boy, it really is hard to remember to take off your shoes when using that bookcase to travel." Her attention was drawn to Wolfrun's boots once more. "Hey, uh, can you, I mean, would you like...um..."

"You want me to take my boots off?" Miyuki nodded quickly at this. "Why? What's going on?"

Miyuki shrugged. "It's a human thing. You don't have to if you don't want to, but..."

Wolfrun bent down and undid the buckles of his boots. "Alright alright. I remember seeing this in some of your TV shows."

"Oh? When did you ever watch TV?" Akane queried.

"Back at the Bad End Kingdom we had a little television that played some Earth shows. Nothing much, but I used to watch it a lot." He finished loosening all the belts, allowing him to pull off his boots, which he then threw with the other shoes. The soft carpet felt nice on his bare feet, which Miyuki was staring at.

"You're...not wearing socks."

"Yeah." Wolfrun replied curtly. "Why would I be?"

"I...I don't know." Miyuki's face was a bit flushed. "Sorry. I guess we can buy you socks too."

"No need. They make my feet too hot. That's why I don't wear them in the first place."

"Hey I still need to measure him." Nao said impatiently. "We can talk about his feet when I'm actually measuring them."

Miyuki returned to her position of holding the bottom of the tape while Nao placed a hand on Wolfrun's head, pushing his hair down.

"Hey, watch it!" Wolfrun was not used to people touching his hair.

"Oh calm down you big baby. If my little brother can stay still during this so can you." She scrutinized the number on the tape for a few moments before speaking again. "Looks to be about 208 centimeters. Write it down, Yayoi."

Yayoi, who had previously been scribbling away anyway, stopped whatever she was doing to write down the number. Nao stepped off the bed and gathered up the measuring tape. She was now standing directly behind Wolfrun. "Okay, lift your arms up now." He complied, allowing Nao to wrap the tape around his waist. "Alright that's around 74 centimeters." She moved down then, coming to Wolfrun's feet. "It'd probably be better for you to sit on the bed for this." Once again he followed Nao's instructions. She lifted one of his feet up and put the tape to it. "And his feet are 33 centimeters." She stood up and adopted a triumphant stance. "That's really all we should need then."

Miyuki had her mouth covered, as if she were laughing at something. "My, what big feet you have!" She said in a strange, high-pitched voice.

"Uh, yeah. They are pretty big compared to you guys."

"Oh, I was just making a joke about what Little Red Riding hood says to the wolf."

"She never said that to me..." Wolfrun was really hoping that this subject would not be brought up. Of course Miyuki would try to talk about it.

"N-no, of course not! Because it's actually about your eyes! And your teeth! Those are big!" Miyuki laughed nervously.

"Red never said that either." Wolfrun was actually getting a little annoyed now, but he didn't want to show it. He didn't want to scare away the friends he thought he had lost. "Look, whatever you read in your weird Earth storybooks about me is not true, okay? And I don't want to talk about it. Period." He stood up from the bed. "Anyway, we're all set now, right? Let's go."

"Wolfrun, I do not believe it would be wise to have you come with us. That was why we took measurements here instead of having you try on the clothes there." Wolfrun was already out of the room once Reika finished, but he peeked his head back in after a moment.

"What? I don't get to come with you?" Finally, after all his time away from Earth, he wasn't even going to be able to see it?

"Buddy, you kinda stand out, dontcha think?" Akane raised her hands to the top of her head to emulate ears.

"Pff. I would come here all the time and people barely even looked at me! Of course, I'd usually be flying, so they probably couldn't see me. I did get kicked out of that one restaurant though..." Wolfrun looked off to the side and stared at nothing in particular. "I guess it'd be easier if I just stayed here then, huh?" he sighed.

"Wait, you got kicked out of a restaurant?"

"Please don't be sad, Wolfrun! Once we get back we can all walk together to my grandma's house. The way there is pretty empty at this time of day." Miyuki pleaded.

"Hey, maybe you can fly us there when we get back!" Yayoi's excitement returned at this prospect.

"Can't actually fly anymore. That was a power given to me by Joker. I'm stuck on the ground with the rest of you guys now."

"Drat!" Yayoi stormed off with Candy in her arms, prompting the rest of the girls to start to head out as well. They stopped by the doorway to get their shoes.

"Wow, she sure is acting funny today." Nao looked in the direction Yayoi went.

Akane shrugged. "It's just her way of showing excitement. We've seen it before. Nothing exciting has happened in a while, that's all." Turning to Wolfrun. "Just hang tight buddy. We'll be back in a jiffy!" She disappeared from the room, followed by Nao and Reika, the latter offering him a gentle smile before she departed.

Miyuki remained, holding her shoes with one hand while she rubbed her neck with the other. Her face was flushed. "Wolfrun I...sorry for bringing up the Little Red Riding Hood story. I forgot that it was a sore subject for you." She attempted eye contact but failed pretty horribly.

"It's fine. Just remember that I don't want to talk about that stuff, yeah?" Miyuki nodded vigorously at his request and darted out of the room, calling back to assure him that the five of them would be back soon.

And now Wolfrun was alone in Yayoi's house, not entirely sure what to do with himself. He moved over to the bed and plopped down on it, prompting creaks of protest from the bedframe. Wolfrun ran the previous twenty minutes in his head.

The Precure had returned.

They were going to take him to see Miyuki's grandmother.

And right now, they were out picking up Earth clothes for him to wear.

His tail began to wag again. This whole situation seemed really silly to him. But he was happy, dammit! Maybe that year of nothingness spent in Märchenland would actually lead up to something good. The future suddenly felt much brighter.

However, at the present moment, Wolfrun was bored. And hungry! He rose to a standing position and left the room in search of the kitchen. Surely Yayoi wouldn't mind if he got a bite to eat. Skipping breakfast is never a good idea (although by that time it was more like a lunch).

The hallway outside of the room naturally lead into the kitchen, and straight away Wolfrun spotted some strawberries in a bowl. They smelled earthy. He took a handful and dumped them into his mouth. While he worked on chewing the berries he moved to the fridge and opened it. A small container of soba caught his eye. Inspecting it, it seemed to have a bunch of vegetables mixed into it. Mostly potatoes. Probably. He didn't care. He took out the soba and attempted to eat it as he did the strawberries. Of course, many of the noodles missed their target and hit the floor.

"Oh dammit!" Wolfrun knelt down to pick up the noodles, which he promptly put into his mouth. Thankfully he had not tipped the container all the way, so most of the meal stayed within it. He quickly located some chopsticks and tried again. He had seen chopsticks used many times on the television and he had tried to teach himself to use them, but after a year of not using them it was as if he was using them for the first time again. Despite this, he was able to eventually devour all of the soba. He placed the empty container and chopsticks on the counter.

With the hunger mostly taken care of, that only left the boredom. Wolfrun roamed the house aimlessly, looking at lamps and plants and whatever happened to be lying around. Everything was pretty tidy. A few pictures decorated the walls. Photographs of Yayoi and who were presumably her parents. The father was only in a few of them and seemed to disappear in pictures where Yayoi was older. Wolfrun started to feel dizzy.

Both of his parents were dead. Right? Did he even truly have parents? Or did he only come into existence when he had a role to play in a story? How could he be sure the memories before that were actually real?

A stinging feeling from both of his palms coaxed him back into reality. He looked down and saw his hands balled into fists, the claws sinking slightly into his flesh. He uncurled his fingers and wiped his hands on his legs as if to wipe away the pain. He decided to head back into Yayoi's room. It seemed to have a lot of things in there that could distract him.

Wolfrun made a beeline straight for the TV. It seemed different than the one they had in the Bad End Kingdom, but these things all worked similarly, right? He found the power button after a bit of prodding. An excited man appeared on the screen. Other excited people were soon revealed. Lots of colors. Wolfrun remembered this. It was something called a "game show", and he had hated them. His outlook on things was a bit different now, of course, but all the noise still irked him. He looked for the dial to change the channel, but no such thing could be found on the device. There were just a bunch of buttons that he didn't want to mess with. He eventually gave up on the TV, but left it on for background noise. Wolfrun wandered around the small room.

A small, pink object lying on the desk caught his attention. He recognized it. It was a Smile Pact, the strange little things which allowed the Precure to transform. Taking it into his hands, it was hard to believe it had lead to their eventual defeat. The thing felt quite flimsy, actually. He flipped it open with his hand.

"Stomach stomach, growling loudly..." he began to mumble, emulating the strange speeches the Precure would give upon transformation. He held the Smile Pact out in front of him. "...Cure Wolfy!"

He stayed perfectly still for a few moments before bursting out laughing. He then imagined himself in one of those ridiculous outfits, prompting more laughter. He tossed the Smile Pact back onto the desk and tried to calm down. The thought of himself being a Precure was just too damn funny though!

A small, colorful figurine snapped him out of his fit. It was Robotter! Of course Yayoi would have it in her room. Upon further inspection, it seemed to be the same figurine that he used to own. No Meanie Master though. Meanie Master was his favorite out of the two figures he had. Behind Yayoi's figure were small books with the title of the show written on them. Curious, he grabbed one and attempted to open it, but it resisted. With some persuasion, he was able to get it apart.

_Oh._

It wasn't a book. There were no pages, only a small circular object held in place on one side. Wolfrun snapped it closed again. He deduced that it must have been one of those devices that had to be put into another device in order for it to work. Presumably Robotter episodes were on the circle thing. He had seen it on TV but he had no idea how that could work. Earth seemed to have a sort of magic of its own that he never had quite figured out.

Replacing the case where he found it, Wolfrun found himself staring at the papers and notebooks scattered across the room. He was aware that Yayoi drew, but he had never looked at her work. He had seen the flattering portrait of Majorina she painted when they were all competing in the witch's weird gameworld, but he was too overcome with grief when Majorina picked Yayoi's painting over his to notice if it was any good or not. Having dabbled in some art himself he felt curious of what she could do.

Looking through the various drawings, it was very apparent that she had considerable skill. Wolfrun filed through the various papers and notebooks, finding mostly drawings of people and some rough comic sketches. He eventually came upon a sketchbook with "Precure Adventures" written on it. He picked it up and sat on the bed.

Unsurprisingly, it was full of drawings of the girls in their Precure forms, posing dynamically and unleashing devastating attacks. Having experienced the attacks firsthand, Wolfrun had to admit that Yayoi had translated them onto paper quite well.

Turning the next page, he saw a familiar face. Akaoni swung his club while Yayoi dodged with a look of determination on her face. Wolfrun recalled her usually looking terrified during fights. Majorina popped up soon afterward. He flipped to the next page.

And there he was. Arms crossed, legs set apart, a sneer on his face. It was quite unnerving to look at. As he moved forward in the notebook the drawings became more intense, some depicting battles that actually happened and others that were probably thought up by Yayoi herself. Wolfrun had never used a sword, anyway.

Near the end there was a drawing of the Precure and the ex Generals grouped together, smiling, with a small sketch of Joker laying on the ground with X'd out eyes. A caption saying "friends forever" was at its side. The subsequent pages were filled with drawings of all of them hanging out and playing. Yayoi sitting on Akaoni's shoulders, Reika playing chess with Majorina, and other things of that sort. Wolfrun spotted a sketch of Yayoi clutching onto his back while flying, explaining her previous disappointed outburst. Of course, Wolfrun himself sometimes missed the feeling flying gave him, but it was also a reassuring reminder that Joker was gone for good.

The sunlight that had been streaming in through the window finally began to take its toll on the wolf. The warmth coupled with the steady noise coming from the television had caused him to become drowsy. He figured that the girls still wouldn't be back for a while yet, so he decided to lay down on the bed and attempt to pick up where he had left off in his hammock.

Well, not exactly. Technically he had left off on the floor. He did not want to sleep on the floor.

Wolfrun quickly found an acceptable position on his side. The events of the day continued to buzz around in his head as well as what was to come. They were going back to that house in the mountains surrounded by trees. Where he had met the first person in his life who had not feared him. Whose first instinct was to treat him with kindness. And he had not known how to process it at the time.

_I was an idiot._

_But I guess it wasn't really me..._

His eyes soon closed as he fell into a light sleep.

_I hope she still wants to feed me._

…

"Do you really think we had to get him _this_ much stuff?"

"Pshh it's barely anything, considering he has nothing! The poor guy deserves to be comfortable."

"Well, he looks plenty comfortable lying there on Yayoi's bed."

Wolfrun sat up on the bed and yawned while Akane walked up to him. "Hey sleepyhead, just how much are you planning on sleeping today?" A cocky grin was plastered on her face.

"Hey, it was the best way to kill time while you were out." Wolfrun maneuvered himself so that his legs hung over the bed. All of the girls were in the room now, Yayoi, Miyuki, and Reika were holding plastic bags, presumably holding his new clothing. "So what did you manage to find?"

Reika's soft voice began. "Well, we went to the used clothing store and found a few things that would be your size, but I'm afraid it might not be enough." She placed the bag she was holding onto the bed next to him and motioned for Miyuki and Yayoi to place the bags down as well.

"I hope you like them." Yayoi beamed at him while also placing her bag down.

"I still think the clothing we made you was better." Candy was sulking on top of Yayoi's head.

"They make some damn fine rags though." Wolfrun quipped with a grin while Yayoi attempted to hold an angry Candy back.

Avoiding Candy's futile attempts of revenge, Wolfrun noticed that Miyuki was hanging back, still holding her bag, which he noticed looked a bit different than the other two. "So is that one for me too?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. We didn't realize until we had already left that we didn't...uh..." Miyuki looked over to her friends, turning red. Akane decided to take over.

"We never asked you if you needed any underwear, so we went out to another store to get you a few pairs. I just told 'em they were for my dad." She stuck her hand into the bag and pulled something out. "Got ya some swim trunks too! Gotta take advantage of the heat before autumn arrives!" she said while throwing the trunks at Wolfrun, who barely managed to catch them before they hit his face.

"T-thanks. Thanks guys." Truth was he wore the fairy-made underwear that he was given, but that was only out of necessity. He did not feel it necessary to tell everyone that though.

Plus it would give ground to Candy in the invisible war the two were fighting.

"Alright girls lets give the guy some space while he changes." Akane said with a clap of her hands. "We'll be right out in the kitchen so you can come out when you're done." Everyone except for Nao began to file out of the room.

Nao produced a small soccer bag and tossed it onto the bed. "Here, you can put your stuff in this for the trip." After that she joined the other girls outside, closing the door behind her.

Wolfrun rifled through the bags, finding a white shirt with "I *heart* Tokyo" written on it (what the heck was a Tokyo?), a black tank top, a pair of gray denim pants, some dark blue track pants, and an old pair of sneakers. The underwear bag contained three pairs of boxer shorts. It was better than nothing.

_And considering they didn't have to do it in the first place..._

Wolfrun quickly undressed, stuffing his leather pantsuit, belts, and patchy fairy-made underwear into the soccer bag. The new underwear fit surprisingly well. The next order of business was to put tail holes into the pants, which Wolfrun accomplished using his claws. He had done it before so he knew exactly where to put them. He then pulled on the denim pants, the tank top, and slipped on the sneakers. There was no mirror in the room, but he sure felt different. Of course he had worn that other outfit for a large chunk of his life. He stuffed the rest of his things into the bag and slung it over his shoulder, walking out to where the girls were.

Wolfrun entered the kitchen, where the girls were gathered around the counter. Hearing him approach, Yayoi began to talk. "Wolfrun, did you eat th-" she stopped as she and her friends turned to face him. "Oh wow."

"What? Do I look silly? I haven't looked in a mirror yet."

"No! You look, well, it's surprisingly fitting." Miyuki seemed like she was holding back a bit of excitement. "Considering we've only ever seen you wear one thing all the time, you pull these off pretty well!"

"Yeah! You really nail the Earth look, what with bein a wolf 'n all." Akane gave him a thumbs up and a wide grin.

"Oh, you really think so?" He looked down at himself and felt his heart leap a little. It felt weird, but not unpleasant.

"Alright! I guess we're ready to go now!" Miyuki jumped up and grabbed a bag off of the ground, the other four following suit. "C'mon Wolfrun! The path to the mountain is fairly close by, but we should get there quickly before we draw too much attention from anyone that might be around." They collectively headed to the door, with Wolfrun following behind somewhat awkwardly.

The door swung open and Wolfrun was hit with a gush of wind. He stepped out a few paces and halted, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply through his nose. He breathed out, making an audible "ahh" sound. Now this was the scent he remembered. "Y'know, you humans may not smell the best, but your world sure smells pretty nice."

"Hey! We smell perfectly fine!" Nao objected.

"Well, he probably has a much more sensitive nose, since he is a wolf." Reika offered.

"Candy, do you think humans smell?" Yayoi held the small fairy out in front of her.

Candy put on a thoughtful face before replying. "Candy has never really noticed humans smelling like anything."

"Hey, we can discuss whether or not humans smell once we get to Mrs. Hoshizora's. C'mon guys, let's get a leg up!" Akane shouted at the group as she began to jog ahead, beckoning them with a wave of her arm. They all stopped talking and regrouped with Akane.

"Hoshizora." Wolfrun repeated to himself. Miyuki overheard.

"Yeah, that's our family surname."

"That's quite a mouthful. Am I gonna have to call her that the whole time?" Wolfrun could not imagine himself saying that name more than ten times in his life.

"I'm sure she'll have you call her something else. We'll find out when we get there." She smiled slightly. Reika and Nao were chatting in front of them while Akane led the way. Yayoi played with Candy's ears, much to the fairy's delight. Miyuki cleared her throat. "Thanks for coming out with us, Wolfrun. I know it might be a bit weird for you, hanging out with some teenage girls, but we'll try to keep you entertained as best we can."

"Hmm? Why wouldn't I wanna hang out with you guys?"

"Well, uh, gee I dunno." Miyuki rubbed her arms before continuing. "It was a dumb thing to say. Just forget it. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." She brushed her arm against his before moving up to the front of the group to tell Akane she was about to take the wrong path. Wolfrun had not known Miyuki long enough in a friendly context to determine whether or not she normally acted like this, but she definitely was acting strange.

Once the correct path was determined, the group became less of a queue and more of an amorphous blob. They were all talking about something or other, but Wolfrun was paying more attention to his surroundings. Just as Miyuki had said, the road seemed to be quite deserted, with many trees providing shade from the late summer sun. Everything had a greenish-gold hue to it. His gaze moved in front of him just in time to see something fall off of Akane's bag. She did not seem to notice. Wolfrun bent down to pick it up. It was a small doll, bearing a strong likeness to Akane herself, that had burst at the seams. A lot of the stuffing seemed to have already fallen out.

_Crap. I remember this._

It was back when he was still a Bad End General, and Joker had started to lay down the heat. He had told each general that their next battle with the Precure had to be won or else they risked being sent back to their storyland world. Or worse. It was a simple manipulation tactic and he never really did follow through with the threat, but it had worked to push each of them to their limits. Wolfrun had chosen Akane as the first Precure to defeat, since she had bested him in quite a few one on one fights.

During the fight, that same doll fell off of her bag. Wolfrun had taken notice and picked it up, inquiring about its purpose. When Akane told him her friends had made it for her and that it was an important treasure to her, he destroyed it. He thought it uneventful at the time, if not a little humorous. How could a little thing like that be a "treasure"? Of course now he knew better.

He felt dizzy, stopping in his tracks. "Akane." Barely above a whisper. It was enough. She turned around to face him and saw him holding the doll.

"Oh, that thing keeps falling off. I really need to fix the strap." She walked up to him and took it from his hands.

"Why didn't you fix the rest of it?" his voice still quiet. The other four noticed the two of them hanging behind, and stopped walking.

"Well, they all offered to make me a new one, but I wanted the original." She looked at her small doppelganger with a smile. "Damn I still love this thing." She promptly fastened it as best she could to her bag.

"Akane I can't- I mean I'm sor- I didn't- I wasn't myself when I..." It had suddenly gotten very hard to talk. Wolfrun looked at the doll again and he got dizzier. Harder to breath.

"What's wrong Wolfrun?" Akane asked.

"I'm sorry. Please just put that doll away. I can't look at it." He had closed his eyes at this point, his arms stiff and shaking. He got this way whenever he thought about the things he had done as a Bad End General, but it had not happened in a while.

"O-okay Wolfrun. I'm putting it in my bag now." He opened his eyes to reveal she was telling the truth. "And I forgive you for...y'know."

"Thanks." Wolfrun's breathing began to slow down. "I'm okay now. Let's keep going." He strode forward, meeting with the other girls, who all had a look of concern on their face. He decided to jump in before they could potentially bring up what just happened. "So how long are we gonna be walking on this road?"

"Uh, it takes about an hour. We still have a ways to go." Miyuki began to walk forward as well, and the rest followed.

The rest of the journey consisted mostly of small talk and sight-seeing. A man on a bicycle passed by them and saw Wolfrun before the girls could push him into the forest (of course they still tried to) but he did not say anything. He stared of course, but continued on his way. Reika theorized that he must have thought it was just a costume.

The sun was just beginning to dip low in the sky when the strange gathering of humans, wolf, and fairy made it to the serene, secluded house of Miyuki's grandmother. It had not changed much since Wolfrun had last seen it. Of course, he had not had time to observe it last time. "Grandma, we're here!" Miyuki's sing-song voice reached out into the surrounding forests.

Footsteps could be heard from inside. They got louder. Any second now, Wolfrun was going to come face to face with the woman who had caused him such anger and confusion almost two years ago.

_Well, here goes._


	4. Grandma

IV. Grandma

Wolfrun's heart pounded in his ears. He stood behind the group, but he was still visible due to his height. Mrs. Hoshizora would see him straight away for sure. How would she react? Going off of what Miyuki said, she'd most likely be happy, if not a bit surprised. Nothing to worry about.

_Then why am I so worried?_

The footsteps came closer, stopping presumably in front of the thin, sliding door (what was with these Earth doors anyhow? No privacy! They were almost like paper!). Any moment now.

Sliding steadily aside, the door revealed the older woman, a warm smile on her face as she gazed into her granddaughter's eyes. Wolfrun had not actually seen her this close before, since his last encounter was at a fair distance. He swallowed, inadvertently creating a bit of noise. Mrs. Hoshizora looked up and saw the giant wolf man standing behind her granddaughter's friends, prompting a small gasp as she raised her hand to her mouth. She quickly recovered, however, her pleasant smile returning. "Excuse me girls, but I would like to properly introduce myself to your friend here." The small group parted, allowing the elderly lady to pass through. Wolfrun stepped back at first but willed himself to stay. He tried his hardest to repress all the negative feelings he had felt during their initial meeting.

Stopping in front of him, she bowed slightly. Wolfrun understood that this was some sort of human greeting, and he returned as best he could. "It's so good to see you again, Mr. Wolfrun. I'm sorry you had to leave so soon last time."

_If she knew what really happened, would she be sorry?_

"That's...I'm...good to see you as well, Mrs. Hozi...Hozishi..."

_Crap! I forgot her name!_

"It's Hoshizora, sweetie, but you may call me grandma while you're here." Her smile persisted. Was she ever not smiling?

"I'd...prefer not to." Wolfrun definitely did not want to get into the details of why he could not refer to her as "grandma".

"Ah, well then just call me Tae. I can call you by your given name as well, if you wish."

"My what?"

"Is Wolfrun your surname? Or is that your given name?"

"I-It's my name. My name is Wolfrun." How confusing. More human malarkey, no doubt.

"Oh, alright Wolfrun. It's a lovely name." She turned her attention to the rest of the group, focusing on Candy, who was still held by Yayoi. "And I see your other friend has returned as well. I don't believe I ever caught her name..."

Miyuki suddenly panicked. "B-but grandma, that's just a stuffed animal! Hahaha!" she slowly inched her way to where Yayoi was standing.

"Oh come now, Miyuki. How can you tell me that your little friend here isn't real while Wolfrun is standing right there?" Tae got to the fairy before Miyuki could snatch her up. "What's your name, little one?"

Of course Candy was a wound up ball of energy ready to burst at this point. "I'm Candy! And Candy loves grandma!" The small fairy shot out of Yayoi's arms and onto Tae, attempting to hug her with her tiny arms, and she hugged back as best she could, what with Candy being tiny and all.

All the girls laughed at the exchange, even Miyuki, who had relaxed a bit. Candy crawled on top of Tae's head and nestled into her hair. "While you get settled in up there, Candy, I'll go inside and get the food set out. You all arrived just in time, it seems!" She retreated into the house, followed by the five girls.

With everyone gone, Wolfrun was able to better smell the pleasant aroma permeating from inside, beckoning him in. He had to duck a bit under the doorway, but once inside the scent grew stronger, reminding him how hungry he actually was. He stumbled over a pair of shoes on the ground and remembered to remove his as well (and damn were they a lot easier to remove than his boots!).

Tae's house was fairly small, but that made sense for a single person living in the mountains. A short table sat in the center of the room with an oscillating fan keeping watch in the corner. Next to a television.

_Okay I really need to see if I can get my hands on one of those._

Wolfrun approached the table, where the Precure were already sitting, chatting idly. They all knelt down on what looked like pillows. He circled the table to one of the empty spots next to Reika and Yayoi. He attempted to kneel down just as they were, but realized he still towered over the table. With a grunt, he maneuvered into a sitting position with his legs crossed. He released a sigh as he slid the bag off of his shoulder and onto the floor next to him. Yayoi started to giggle.

"What're you on about?" Wolfrun stretched his arms out and yawned after asking.

Yayoi appeared startled at first, most likely due to Wolfrun's tone. He just tended to sound irritated a lot. Perhaps another factor that made people afraid of him? She quickly snapped out of it, however. "It's just...you're so BIG compared to everyone else at the table. I just thought it was funny. Sorry." She turned to say something to Miyuki, whose attention was then turned to him.

"Hey Wolfrun, do you have a zabuton?" she asked while craning her neck upwards as if trying to see the floor next to him.

"Huh?"

"A, uh, a cushion. To sit on." Miyuki raised her hands in front of her as if to squeeze an imaginary pillow.

"No, actually." Wolfrun had suddenly become aware of how uncomfortable he was sitting there. The floor was now unacceptable. He needed this "zabuton".

At that moment grandma Tae walked into the room, two plates in her hand. Candy jumped down from her head and sat on the table as the old woman addressed her wolf guest. "Oh, I'll have to go get you one. Hold on one moment, please." She set the plates down, revealing inarizushi and cobs of corn. "Miyuki, dear, would you please go fetch the tea and plates while I get Wolfrun his zabuton?" She disappeared as Miyuki got up and headed into the kitchen.

Wolfrun grabbed the nearest foodstuff, which happened to be some of the corn. He realized it was a bit too hot after sinking his teeth into it, but he did not care.

"Eh, guess we really don't need plates for corn on the cob." Akane followed suit, grabbing a cob, followed by Yayoi and Nao. "Wolfrun, ever have corn on the cob before? What human foods have you been missing out on?"

Wolfrun spoke with a mouth half-full of corn. "What, you think I've been eating leaves or something? I've eaten human food all my life." He went in for another bite before stopping. "Besides, what makes corn human food anyway? It grows and you eat it. Animals eat corn. Everyone eats corn."

"Got me there, big guy." Wolfrun snorted at the nick name.

Miyuki and Tae happened to step into the room simultaneously. Miyuki had fetched a tray for the tea, which also had cups, plates, and chopsticks. Tae moved towards Wolfrun and handed him a larger zabuton. "Here you go. This is the one Miyuki's grandfather used. It's a bit bigger than the other ones, but even that may not be enough..."

Wolfrun set the corn down and grabbed the cushion from Tae, slipping it beneath him, making a world of difference. He let out a sigh of contentment, tail swaying lazily. The apprehensiveness he felt before was seeping out. He returned to eating his corn.

Miyuki began to set the plates, chopsticks laying across each one. Once everyone was set up they began to pick out the inarizushi using the chopsticks. Wolfrun placed his own in his hands the best he could and attempted to emulate what the others were doing. It proved quite difficult though, as he could not get a grip on any of them. There were a few giggles and Wolfrun let out a frustrated growl. He gave up, putting a chopstick into each of his hands and spearing a few on each before depositing them onto his plate.

"Wolfrun." Reika's soft voice broke through his sudden desire to impale food. "Would you like me to teach you how to properly use chopsticks?" The look on her face was friendly, yet laced with concern.

"I know how to hold 'em. Just not so much the picking up the food part." He speared a roll and popped it into his mouth. "This seems to work for me."

Reika looked annoyed, an expression that did not sit on her face naturally. "It will not work for rice or noodles though. You need to learn this sooner or later. Here..." She held out her hand with the chopsticks. "You hold the bottom stick with your thumb and support it with your ring finger. Your index and middle finger will be used to hold the other stick, almost like a pencil. Hold it firm, but do not grip too hard, and try to make it so the ends are even." She looked back up at Wolfrun, who was simply staring at her. He poked another roll and put it into his mouth. She sighed, but the others found it quite amusing.

"Hey Wolfrun, you won't hafta use chopsticks if I make you some more of my okonomiyaki. You ate those things whole!" Akane pointed at him with the aforementioned utensils before using them to pick up some food.

That got his attention. "Wait, seriously? You wanna make more for me? I really love your okonomiyaki!" It had been a long time, but he still remembered how delicious it was.

Akane chortled while trying to get her inarizushi down. "Well, it wasn't _for_ you the first time, bucko. But yeah, if you love it so much I'll whip you up some more. Only if you describe to me, in glorious, painstaking detail, why you love them so much." She finished by leaning back and putting her arms behind her head for about three seconds before realizing it was an uncomfortable position, so she went back to simply eating her food.

Wolfrun laughed as well, although he was a bit embarrassed about how straightforward he was with his love of her cooking. "Whenever you're making them, I'll be eating them!"

Unbeknownst to Wolfrun, Tae had been watching him throughout the exchange. "You have such a lovely smile. I'm so glad to see it."

"Oh, uh. Thanks." He really didn't know where that statement came from. He hadn't even noticed that he was smiling.

"If you don't mind me asking, where do you come from?"

Miyuki interjected before he could respond. "Oh, grandma! I've already told you! He lives deep in the woods." She looked at Wolfrun and gave him a sort of pleading look. "And he's been gone recently. Because he likes to travel." She coughed softly after her explanation, her eyes still lingering on Wolfrun.

"Oh, well that sounds lovely! Where did you go?" Tae asked while lacing her fingers, placing her chin on top of them.

Miyuki leaned forward and looked at Wolfrun more directly, with a bit of worry. After a bit of a pause he answered. "Oh I, uh, I went to the...city." Tae continued to look at him expectantly. "And, I uh, ...I also went to the...the ocean." He punctuated this by taking a bite out of his corn.

"Oh. You were there for an entire year?" The older woman sounded confused, but she was still smiling.

"Yeah" he managed with his mouth full of corn. Maybe if he kept eating she would excuse him for refraining to speak.

"And people treated you well?" No such luck. Wolfrun pondered over how to answer.

Before he could respond, Yayoi burst out, "Wolfrun! Did you eat those noodles at my house?" He wasn't sure if this was a serious issue or if Yayoi had just looked for a way to change the subject. Either way, it worked.

"Yeah I did. They were pretty good."

"Wolfruuuuuuuuun!" her cheeks puffed out and she looked quite cross. "Those were for my mom! What am I supposed to tell her? That some big werewolf guy ate them?"

He shrugged. "I guess so. Hey, I wasn't about to starve to death in your house."

"Oh you would have been fine!" Nao piped in. "I swear you're like a big, furry kid."

Wolfrun responded to this by crossing his arms, closing his eyes, turning his chin up, and going "Hrmph", which everyone at the table seemed to find hilarious.

After the ruckus died down Yayoi sighed. "Alright Wolfrun, I'll take the blame for eating those noodles, but that means you have to do something for me, okay?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"I'll figure it out later. Deal?"

"...fine. Deal."

Adequately distracted, Tae seemed to notice that everyone had finished up their food, so she moved to collect all the dishes. "So what are you all going to do now? There's only a few hours of sunlight, after all."

"Oh yeah! Nao, I wanna show you that field I think would be great for soccer. You remembered to bring your ball, right?" Miyuki stood up to help with the dishes as she said this, only to be waved off by her grandmother.

"I sure do! How far away is it? We should get going before it gets too dark."

"Only about a ten minute walk. We'll be there in a jiffy!" Miyuki walked over to Wolfrun and put a hand on his shoulder. "Do you wanna play with us? We can teach you how. It won't be a formal game or anything. Loose rules."

"Ehh, I don't see why not. I've seen some soccer before. You just...kick the ball away from other people who are trying to kick the ball, right?"

Nao, who had retrieved her bag and slung it over her shoulder, approached him. "That's...not all you do, but I guess that's what it looks like to an observer." She looked around to all the other girls, who had started to get up and mill around. "So are we all ready to head out now?"

"Yeah, just let me help grandma clean up." Miyuki once again attempted to aid the woman.

"Now now, dear, I am perfectly capable of doing this myself. Please, go with your friends."

"Alright. Thanks for the meal!" Miyuki moved over to where the shoes lay, followed by the others.

"Yeah, thanks a bunch gramma!" Akane seemed to have accepted Tae's invitation to call her that. The other girls and Candy all thanked her for the food.

"Yeah, thanks." Wolfrun then added. "Heh, makes me wish I didn't...could have stayed last time to eat." Thinking further about it, he wished he could somehow contact his past self. Let him know that if he dropped all the hostilities and had just relaxed for a moment, he would have been able to find the friends he so sorely needed.

_Of course, I wasn't myself back then. Not really. He wouldn't have listened._

Tae's soft voice snapped him out of his hypothetical time traveling. "Well, I'm glad you were able to make it back, and I look forward to getting to know you more."

"Yeah, me too." His face felt hot.

Tae disappeared with the dishes and the group put their shoes on.

Reika brushed her hand over Wolfrun's back. "Wolfrun, when you said 'me too' in response to Mrs. Hoshizora's wish to get to know you better, you implied that you would also like to begin to know yourself more." She sounded serious, but her grin indicated that she was mostly joking.

"Sh-shut up!"

The group headed out the back door, where Wolfrun had encountered the Precure eating lunch two years ago. Seeing it again did not seem to upset him, though. They took a left into a partially wooded path as Miyuki lead the way.

And without warning, Candy jumped in front of Wolfrun's face. "Wolfrun seems very happy! Is Wolfrun happy?" Yayoi had delivered the fairy to his position.

Although the wolf's reaction to the small creature was usually annoyance, he responded with a grin this time. "Yeah, I am!"

"You seemed really sad in Märchenland. Candy is glad that the Precure were able to cheer you up!" She then jumped from Yayoi's hands onto his shoulder. This was the first time Candy had used him for personal transport (something she did often with other people, it seemed), so he was taken aback at first.

"Were you really that upset in Märchenland?" Yayoi had positioned herself to the left of Wolfrun after Candy left her grasp. Being the shortest of the girls, she had to really crane her neck upwards to look at him on the narrow path.

"There were good days. There were bad days. But most days were just...empty. I really don't wanna talk about it. Let's keep going."

Akane pulled up to his right. "Whatever you say, wolfguy. Just remember that we'll always be around to talk to ya." She playfully punched him on the arm. He flinched a bit, recalling the times she had hit him full force. Which reminded him...

"Hey, can you guys still transform? I saw that Yayoi still had her Smile Pact in her room."

"Nope." Akane's response was almost instant. "We all tried, but no dice. Seems all the power was drained with the defeat of Pierrot."

"Hey, I'm not complaining!" Nao was a few steps ahead of them, but had been listening nonetheless. "I'll admit, all that Precure stuff was pretty fun, and hell, we all met because of it, but I'm glad that we're back to just being regular teenagers again." She turned her attention forward and called to Miyuki. "Hey Miyu! How much further?"

"Ah, we just have to get up this hill! C'mon guys!"

The incline wasn't too steep, but it was long enough to cause some fatigue as well as a sense of accomplishment once the top was reached. Down below, a fairly large field could be seen, flanked by the forest. The setting sun illuminated the scene with a golden glow.

"Down there guys! Doesn't it look great for soccer?" Miyuki seemed proud of herself.

"It sure does! C'mon guys let's go!" Nao shot down the hill, the other girls following one by one.

Wolfrun stood and stared until Akane called back "Beat ya down the hill, big guy!"

Wolfrun looked to the fairy on his shoulder. She looked a bit worried. "What do you say, Candy? Think you can hang on?"

"Candy doesn't thi-"

"OH WELL!" Wolfrun took off, throwing Candy off his shoulder. She ended up grabbing onto his long hair. His long legs carried him swiftly down the path, first passing Yayoi, then Reika, then Miyuki. Akane and Nao were almost near the bottom, but he was determined to beat them. Or at least Akane. Seemed that their former rivalry had carried into their budding friendship as well.

Candy still hung from his hair, screaming with what seemed to be horror as well as excitement. Near the end of the hill there was a large rock to the left of the path. Wolfrun adjusted his course there. At his current pace he would never make it in time. But...

_Why the hell am I doing this?_

Once he was in front of the boulder, he leaped up on it, using it to propel himself up and over the two other girls, who did not even notice him until he crashed onto the ground in front of them.

"Oh my gosh!" Nao was startled by his sudden arrival while Akane just burst out laughing. Wolfrun had landed mostly on his feet, but his momentum had ultimately lead him straight onto the ground. Candy had miraculously managed to hang on.

Akane barely recovered from her laughing fit to congratulate him. "I gotta give it to ya! You won that one! I didn't think you'd be that determined to be honest. I was mostly jokin about racing!"

Wolfrun was in a strange lying/sitting position on the ground. "That's one!" He held up his right arm and extended his index finger. He was a bit winded. "One time I've beaten you!" He slowly rose to his feet and dusted off his clothes. "I had to get at least one."

Once everyone had gathered again they headed out into the field. Nao stopped the group as they reached the center, dropping the ball onto the ground and resting her foot on it. "Alright, there's six of us, so that means we need to come up with teams of three."

"What about Candy?" The fairy had relocated to Miyuki's arms and looked worried.

"She's right. We need to find a way for Candy to play." the girl holding her was adamant.

_She's about as big as the ball..._

Reika voiced her concerns. "I am not sure that would be safe for you, Candy. Soccer can be quite a physical sport. We do not want you to get stepped on." Candy responded by looking sadder.

"We can't just leave her out! I know how that feels, and I would never do it to one of my friends!" Yayoi passionately spouted. "Candy, you can be on my team, okay?"

"Alright, alright, the teams will be a bit uneven, but we can work with it. And Candy, if at any time you feel scared or you get hurt, just tell us, okay?" Nao then stood apart from the rest of them and pointed at Akane. "You will be captain of one team and I'll be captain of the other, okay?"

"Ugh really? This is the kinda stuff they do in school." Akane sighed, but went to stand next to Nao nonetheless. "And now we're gonna pick our teams, right?"

"Yup, you got it!" Nao turned her attention to the gathering in front of her. "Wolfrun, you'll be on my team. You can be goalie, since that's a pretty simple position to wrap your head around."

"Um, alright, sure." He stood there for a second until Nao beckoned him over.

"Since we don't actually have any goals, we'll have to improvise, of course. I've got stuff in my bag for that."

"Okay." Wolfrun did not know what she was talking about.

"Alright, my turn." Akane rubbed her chin to emulate deep thought. "Well I'd be a fool to pass up Yayoi and Candy, since that would give me more players on my team." The two of them walked over to Akane, followed by Miyuki.

"Miyu, she didn't pick you yet!"

"Pff. I know you're gonna pick Reika! The two of you have known each other since, what, birth?"

"More or less." Reika wore her trademark warm smile and moved to join Nao and Wolfrun.

"Alright, I'll set up the goals." Nao reached into her bag and pulled out four small, bright yellow cones. She set two of them on the ground about four meters apart and handed the other two to Akane. "Alright Wolfrun. As goalie, you have to try to stop the ball from getting between those two cones. If the ball comes towards you you can pick it up, kick it, whatever. Just get it away from the goal. You said you've watched soccer before, so you must have a basic understanding of what's going on." She patted him on the arm and walked over to the others.

Wolfrun digested all the information he was given. It seemed easy enough. Stop a ball. How hard could that be?

Apparently, pretty damn hard. Once the game was underway Wolfrun realized that the small black-spotted sphere was really difficult to keep track of. Whenever Akane managed to break through the defense, she sent the ball soaring past him and in between the cones.

"C'mon Wolfrun, you're a big guy! Use those long legs!" Akane was obviously having a good time with this.

When the ball was not threatening Wolfrun's personal space, it was out in the field where the girls juggled it around. It all looked confusing and exhausting and he honestly did not mind being excluded. Candy weaved in and out of the girls' legs and hit the ball full force with her body to move it. Quite the spectacle to behold. Wolfrun was entertained solely by watching the small creature fling herself every which way.

Opposite of him, Yayoi held the same position of goalie. She seemed to be a bit more successful than he was, but a few kicks flew by her.

_How is she doing better than me? She's like, half my size._

Wolfrun started thinking about how long one would have to practice soccer in order to play it competently. Was he supposed to stand before a barrage of soccer balls flying at him for hours on end just to be able to be an adequate goalie?

_Stupid human game._

"Aye! Head's up, spacey!" Akane once more. Wolfrun looked up, seeing a whirling blur of white and black headed straight for him. His arms moved up to protect his face but ended up catching the ball in the process. The Precure cheered and clapped. This was silly.

Wolfrun groaned and set the ball on the ground and took a few steps back. Everyone else stopped celebrating his accidental catch and began to move back, anticipating the imminent kick. He stared at the ball, then his foot, and back at the ball again. He moved backward some more until he was about six meters away from it. He had something planned.

"Ultra..." he took one more step back, but stayed tense. The others continued to predict where the ball would land.

"...Wolfrun..." all the potential energy within him was ready to be released. Yayoi looked worried.

"...special..." he released himself from the previous pose, making his way towards the ball in a jog which soon became a short sprint. The girls all tensed up.

"KIIIIIIIICK!" his foot connected with the ball, sending it rocketing into the sky with unbelievable velocity.

Akane started to laugh while Nao shouted "Are you kidding me?!" as it flew over the treeline. Wolfrun simply stared at the point where the ball disappeared, honestly impressed that he was able to do that.

_There should be a sport where all you do is kick a ball reeeeally far._

"Wolfrun, you're coming with me." Someone grabbed his arm and began pulling. Nao had closed the distance between them very quickly.

"Huh? What?"

"You kicked that ball, my _only _ball, by the way, so you're gonna at least help look for it!" She led him towards the woods. "You all stay here, we'll be right back. It couldn't have gotten too far."

"I'll come too!" Miyuki joined the two of them as they passed by her.

The forest wasn't too dense. One could see inside fairly far before the trees became too thick. However, with dusk approaching, it was likely not to stay that way. The three of them entered and began to prod around. Wolfrun sniffed the air.

"Oh, can you, like, smell the ball? Are you gonna track it?" Miyuki was suddenly in front of him, gazing up with bright eyes.

"N-no. It just smells nice here, I think." For some reason he felt too embarrassed to reveal that searching for the scent of the ball was exactly what he was doing. He continued to sniff and caught a whiff of grass, sneakers, and a strange, synthetic scent. Must be what the ball was made of. He moved toward the scent, leaving the other two to search fruitlessly.

The ball hung precariously between two branches. With a bit of a leap, Wolfrun was able to dislodge it and catch it. He returned to Nao and Miyuki, who looked at him in surprise.

"Oh, you already found it! How did you-"

"You DID sniff it out, didn't you?" Miyuki interrupted Nao quite loudly.

Wolfrun simply stated "No" and exited the forest. The sun had dipped under one of the hills and the field faded from gold to blue. The others had gathered around Nao's soccer bag, chatting. The owner of the bag gathered up the makeshift goals as Miyuki and her wolf companion joined the group.

Yayoi appeared surprised. "Wow, you guys found that pretty quick! I was sure it would have flown straight into Mrs. Hoshizora's backyard! Wolfrun, that kick was so amazing!"

"Yeah, too bad we weren't playin on a full-sized field. In an actual game that woulda been something else!" Even Akane was impressed with Wolfrun's ridiculous kick.

"Heh, well, it was really more trouble than it was worth." he said while rubbing his arm. He realized then that he was not apt at receiving compliments.

Nao soon arrived to deposit her stuff into her bag, which she then threw over her shoulder. "Alright gang, time to head back."

Up over the hill and down once more, they headed into the woods that lead back to Tae's house. And Wolfrun felt good, despite still feeling hot from the now absent sun. He was happy and content. He was in the company of people who would call him their friend and likewise. Of course, he understood that Akaoni, Majorina, Wolfun, and Red were all his friends too, and considered him one as well. But the excitement of having new friends and actually doing things with them. It felt good.

_I feel good._

Of course it wouldn't last.

Miyuki snickered next to him. He had not even noticed she was there until now.

"Hm? What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's just that." She giggled again and then nudged him. "Red and the Wolf, heading through the woods to her grandma's house."

Wolfrun felt like ice and his stomach turned as he clenched his fists.

_Let it go just let it go. Let it go let it go let it go let it go let it go it's fine it's fine it's fine just let it go let it go let it go let it go it's fine I'll be fine just let it go I can't let it go._

"JUST!" his sudden bark alerted everybody else, stopping them in their tracks. He grabbed his head and squeezed. "STOP! JUST STOP IT DAMMIT! I'M SICK OF THIS CRAP! I'M NOT HIM, I NEVER WAS HIM, I NEVER WANTED TO BE HIM!" He felt himself start to fall over but he extended a leg out to prevent it. He removed his shaking hands from his face. "I'M NOT SOME CHARACTER WHOSE LIFE IS JUST...WRITTEN OUT IN SOME _BOOK_!" By this point Miyuki and the others had retreated some distance away. "I SHOULD HAVE ENDED THIS WORLD WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE! WOULD HAVE SAVED ME A WHOLE LOT OF PAIN!"

_Shit. That was too much._

His own words seemed to have snapped him out of his rage, as he steadily drew his gaze to meet the Precures'. They all looked terrified. Of him. They were scared of him, no doubt. Just like when they first met.

_Nothing has changed. This is just who I am. No amount of acting nice is going to stop it. I'm a horrible monster who can only bring pain._

He stepped backwards before turning around and walking briskly down the path. The walk turned into a run when he heard the voices behind him. He couldn't bear to listen what they would say to him. He needed to get away from them.

He made it to Tae's house fairly fast at the pace he took, which in turn tired him out quite a bit. As did his previous tirade. He put his hands on his knees and panted as he stood in front of the small house. Now what?

Tae seemed to have taken notice of his presence, as she opened up the back door soon after he arrived. "Hello, Wolfrun! Did you run all the way here? Are you all having a race?"

"No, no, it's just...I'm just..." He regained what was left of his composure. "I'm tired. I'm really tired. Is there anyplace I can sleep?"

"Why, yes, of course! I just finished setting up the sleeping mats in the guest room. It's fairly cool in there and I have the fan on, so you should be quite comfortable, even with all of your fur! Come in, I'll show you. Are the girls coming soon?"

"Yeah, they should be."

"Alright then." She smiled sweetly at him. She did not know what he had just done. He took his shoes off by the entrance and followed her into the room where six sleeping mats laid.

"Thank you, Tae." He wanted desperately to seek comfort from her, but he knew he did not deserve it. He would probably end up hurting her anyway. He began to remove his pants, causing an "oop!" noise from Tae, who quickly slid the door shut. Good. He folded the pants and placed them next to one of the mats, which he then slipped into, pulling the thin blanket over him and curling into the fetal position.

All he could think about were their faces. His shouting. The pure anger he felt. Now replaced only with a hollow feeling. He laid there with his thoughts, eventually merging with the bed and disappearing. He no longer felt corporeal. He thought he heard more voices outside at one point, but he no longer understood the language. The door opened, maybe. A hand on the shoulder he no longer had. It retreated after it realized he was not there.

The barrier between sleep and consciousness was indistinguishable, but he drifted off nonetheless.


	5. Dream

_Author's Note: This chapter contains descriptions of blood and death near the end._

V. Dream

That god-forsaken forest. Nobody dared venture in, so they stuck to the very well worn path. He would watch them, sometimes contemplating whether or not to fulfill the preposterous rumors made about him or try to communicate with them. He always just ended up staring though. Staring at a life he couldn't have. One that he was barred from since he was born.

_Or, is the word "created" more appropriate?_

He didn't think that, but he heard it in his mind. He turned around to face a wolf. Like, an honest to goodness wolf with four legs. Not whatever he was. Still, the wolf's face looked remarkably similar to his.

"Who are you?" the mysterious interloper simply looked at him. He heard the voice again.

_That's a funny question. Do you often look at yourself in the mirror and ask the same question?_

"No. Do you often trespass onto other people's land like an asshole? Yes, you do! Get the hell out of here." Wolfrun waved a dismissive hand and turned to watch the road again.

_Oh, but this forest isn't owned by anyone. This land is for everyone. You just started squatting on it and declared it yours. That's just the kind of person you are. _

"I'm not!" he snapped around to face the wolf again. "You don't know anything, you damn mutt! This is the only place where I'm allowed to live without fear of being killed! They don't let me into their world, I don't let them into mine!"

_They won't allow you into their towns because you won't allow them into the forest, perhaps. _

"What are you talking about? They've been on my tail my whole life! They killed my damn parents! They're the ones who basically exiled me, so yeah! I'm damn well not going to let them get any more ground!" He slowly approached the wolf as he said this, but the wolf stood his ground.

_Do you actually remember all of that?_

"What?"

_Do you remember everything you just said? Or is that just the excuse you made up?_

"IT HAPPENED!" Wolfrun tried to kick the wolf but he avoided his foot nimbly. "Get your lanky ass out of my forest, you bastard!" The wolf did not react.

_You're lucky that Joker took you out of this place, you know? You should be grateful._

Wolfrun felt all his fur stand up. "Do you have any idea what that clown did to me?"

_Yes. He saved your life._

"Wrong! He used me and threw me away when I was no longer useful!"

_He saved your life. If you would have stayed here, you would have died._

"And how the hell do you know that? Are you threatening me?"

_No, just stating facts. If you had stayed here any longer, you would have gotten killed eventually. _

"Yeah, okay, I would have died eventually. Everyone dies! Does that mean I should thank that piece of shit that manipulated me and my friends?" Wolfrun started to move towards the wolf again, but turned around when he felt a sudden presence behind him.

Unlike the wolf behind him, this wolf looked almost exactly like him. The zipper on his suit was pulled down, revealing a gruesome scar running up his abdomen. The doppelganger stared blankly ahead. Wolfrun was startled, but quickly recovered.

"H-hey there! What's your story then? Are you this asshole's friend or something?" Wolfrun looked at each of the newcomers, but neither gave a response.

"And once again, we must ask you whether or not you recognize your own reflection."

Another one? Wolfrun whipped around to find another wolf, this one a spitting image of himself. It spoke to him directly, unlike the one who stood on all fours. "Where the hell are you guys coming from?"

_Where do you think?_

"Oh wow, vague crap again. I should've guessed! Alright then, who are you? Can you at least answer that?"

"We're the Big Bad Wolf, of course."

Now that was unacceptable. "Is this some kinda joke?!" He stepped back as he processed the situation. "I get it now. You're from the town, aren't you? Wearing some silly costumes! I'll admit, I was tricked at first, but now I see your stupid ruse!" He lunged at the doppelganger that looked most like himself, but it seemed to vanish as he struck the air where it had been.

_Afraid there is no joke, Wolfrun. We are simply showing you who you really are. No amount of denial is going to change it._

"SHUT UP!" he tried to kick the wolf again, but it disappeared just as his double did.

He heard sputtering next to him. The one with the scar began to speak, water running out of its mouth. "We are you...and you are us...it's always been this way..."

"NO!" another swing, and it disappeared like the other two. Wolfrun was now alone.

"Look at what you're reduced to without me, pup." that voice sounded way too familiar.

"Joker!" Wolfrun spotted him perched on a branch above him, realizing that he had been there the entire time. The jester dismounted and landed in front of the wolf.

"Ah, I remember this well. The Big Bad Wolf in his woods, with nothing to do but watch. Striving for a life he so sorely coveted. Alas, it was not to be." Joker groomed his nails as he spoke. "My offer helped you, you know. But in the end, you failed to hold up your end of the deal. Some would even say you betrayed me."

"Betrayed? You're one to talk! I know you were just waiting for a chance to get rid of us the whole time! And how the power you gave us was killing us! You did _not_ help me!"

"I gave you PURPOSE, you cretin! Look at you! Doing absolutely NOTHING! Just waiting for your pathetic life to end! You are WORTHLESS! I gave your life meaning and you threw it out! Now all that's left for you is death!"

"I'M NOT GOING TO DIE!"

"That is your fate."

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Ah, there's the Big Bad Wolf I know! Why couldn't I muster this kind of enthusiasm from you when you were fighting the Precure? Shame, shame."

"I didn't need to fight the Precure in the first place! They only wanted to help us!"

"Ah, you would say that now, wouldn't you? You're all buddy buddy with them, after all! But know this: you can bring them nothing but pain. That's just natural to your personality. You are only going to hurt them, pup."

"Don't. Call! ME!" Wolfrun lunged forward at Joker, who remained stationary.

"PUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!"

Wolfrun's claws sunk into Joker's chest as the clown laughed maniacally, but he couldn't hear it through his rage. They both toppled to the ground as Wolfrun ripped through flesh. He tore and dug and pulled until he was out of breath and his screaming turned into crying. He was covered in blood; the stench was unbearable to his sensitive nose.

Joker's voice echoed throughout the forest. "There is nothing you can do."

Wolfrun looked down at the mangled corpse of Miyuki Hoshizora.


End file.
